Education Department Finds Penn Violated Title IX Over Transgender Athlete Participation

The Trump administration has determined that the University of Pennsylvania violated Title IX by allowing transgender swimmer Lia Thomas to compete on its women's swim team, citing this as sex discrimination against female athletes. The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights mandated that Penn strip Thomas of her records, titles, and awards, restore recognition to the affected female athletes, and issue formal apologies. Penn has been given 10 days to comply with these directives or face legal action and the potential loss of federal funding. The university has defended its actions by stating it followed NCAA and Ivy League policies at the time. This ruling comes after the administration previously suspended approximately $175 million in federal funding to Penn over this issue. Critics, including some former competitors, argue that allowing transgender athletes in women’s sports undermines fairness, while Penn maintains its compliance with governing athletic bodies’ policies.