The University of Pennsylvania violated Title IX by allowing a biologically male swimmer who identifies as female to compete on the women’s team and use their facilities, the Trump administration said Monday.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced its findings in a statement that noted the Ivy League institution must declare it will comply with Title IX “in all of its athletic programs” to resolve the matter.
The university must also restore to female athletes any “records, titles, honors, awards or similar recognition for Division I swimming competitions misappropriated by male athletes competing in female categories,” the department stated.
The terms should not come as a surprise to UPenn, as the Department of Education sent a letter to the National Collegiate Athletic Association in February urging it to revoke titles and records previously earned by trans-identifying men who competed against women.
“Lia Thomas, a transgender woman, won the 2022 NCAA championship in the women’s 500-yard freestyle. The government’s Monday edict did not mention Thomas by name,” USA Today reported. “The Department of Education gave Penn 10 days to wipe out Thomas’ records.”
If not, the school risks a referral to the U.S. Department of Justice for enforcement proceedings, the department stated.
UPenn administrators must also send a letter “to each female athlete whose individual recognition is restored expressing an apology on behalf of the University for allowing her educational experience in athletics to be marred by sex discrimination,” the Education Department announced.
“UPenn has a choice to make: do the right thing for its female students and come into full compliance with Title IX immediately or continue to advance an extremist political project that violates federal antidiscrimination law and puts UPenn’s federal funding at risk,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a statement.
In March, the Trump administration paused $175 million in federal funds to UPenn due to the school’s failure to ban men from women’s sports. A campus spokesperson told news outlets at the time that the school “has always followed NCAA and Ivy League policies regarding student participation on athletic teams. We have been in the past, and remain today, in full compliance with the regulations that apply to not only Penn, but all of our NCAA and Ivy League peer institutions.”
In early February, the NCAA enacted a blanket policy that forbids males from competing in any female sports. 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.
Three former UPenn athletes who competed alongside Thomas, a male who identifies as female, have filed a lawsuit, alleging Title IX violations.
MORE: Citing Trump order, NCAA scraps policy allowing males to compete in women’s sports
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Female student athletes cheer and celebrate/ Jacob Lund, Shutterstock