The College Fix

NCAA must ‘restore to female athletes’ titles ‘wrongfully credited to male athletes,’ Department states

The Department of Education under President Donald Trump sent a letter to the National Collegiate Athletic Association urging it to revoke titles and records previously earned by men, including transgender swimmer William “Lia” Thomas, in women’s sports.

“In short, the NCAA…must not only prospectively protect female categories in sports, but also restore to female athletes all records, titles, awards, and recognitions wrongfully credited to male athletes,” the letter, obtained by the Daily Caller, reads.

SCOOP: Trump’s Education Department is demanding @NCAA strip biological men, such as Lia Thomas, of the records and titles they won competing on women’s sports teams.

Doing such would be in line with Trump’s latest EO banning biological men from women’s sports, the letter… pic.twitter.com/2LbDJJ8gVy

— Reagan Reese (@reaganreese_) February 11, 2025

It also calls on the NCAA to “immediately act to rectify the injustices that female athletes across the nation endured during the years that NCAA and NFHS policies promoted and facilitated men competing on women’s teams.”

The letter also states:

We cannot undo the damage inflicted by years of policies and practices that have denied the material reality of sex and conflated that immutable characteristic with a subjective, fluid concept of ‘identity’ by prospectively returning to objective, factual sex classifications in athletics.

But we can recognize the harms done and injustices committed by such misguided policies and reversing their effects will restore a genuine commitment to girls’ and women’s equality of opportunity in athletic competition across the United States.

Further, the letter states that following President Trump’s recent executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” the NCAA acknowledged the need for a “clear, national standard” and stated it would take steps to adjust its policies accordingly.

The letter states the NCAA’s Feb. 6 policy update “demonstrated steps” to align with the order, but the department further recommends it adopt the “clear, fact-based language” from the president’s executive order titled “Protecting Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth” to eliminate loopholes that allow males to compete in women’s sports.

The NCAA’s “leadership on this issue will also encourage K-12 school districts, interscholastic athletic associations, and sports governing bodies to similarly act to restore to girls and women the dignity and equality of opportunity represented by factually accurate records of female athletic accomplishments,” the letter states.

If the NCAA follows the department’s directives, it will invalidate any victories in the record of former University of Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, along with those of other athletes.

This would also include transgender athlete Blaire Fleming, whose participation on San Jose State University’s women’s volleyball team last year led several teams to forfeit matches.

Last week, the NCAA scrapped its policy allowing male athletes to compete in women’s sports, The College Fix reported.

However, “student-athletes assigned male at birth” will still be allowed “to practice with women’s teams and receive benefits such as medical care while practicing,” according to the new policy.

MORE: SJSU trans player’s career ends—so should male participation in women’s sports

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