The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), where transgender swimmer Lia Thomas competed, is under pressure from the Trump administration to erase her athletic records or risk losing federal funding.
Thomas made history in 2022 when she became the first openly transgender woman to win a national college swimming title. However, her victory became a flashpoint for conservative commentators, including former athletes Riley Gaines and Caitlyn Jenner, who claimed her participation in women’s sports was unfair. The criticism intensified after Thomas was nominated for a “woman of the year” award, having broken two women’s swimming records.
On Monday (28 April), the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights issued a ruling stating that UPenn violated Title IX—a federal law banning sex-based discrimination in education—by allowing Thomas to compete on the women’s team. While Thomas was not named directly, the ruling accused the university of denying “women equal opportunities by permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities,” according to USA Today.
As a result, the federal government suspended $175 million in funding to the university last month and gave UPenn 10 days to remove Thomas’ records from official listings. The ruling also ordered the university to prohibit transgender athletes from participating in women’s teams and to issue letters of apology to female athletes whose “educational experience in athletics (was) marred by sex discrimination.”
In response, UPenn defended its actions, stating that it had adhered to all relevant Ivy League and NCAA policies governing athlete eligibility in women’s sports.
The action stems from an executive order signed by Donald Trump on 5 February, titled Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports. The order reinterprets Title IX to exclude transgender women and girls from teams matching their gender identity. Institutions that defy the order risk losing federal support.
This escalation reflects the broader rollback of transgender protections under the Trump administration, specifically targeting inclusion in sports and education.
