UPenn to Restore All Division 1 Swimming Titles to Biological Women After Title IX Settlement

By The Blog Source

After a Trump-led probe and funding block, UPenn will revoke Lia Thomas's women's swimming titles and issue an apology to affected athletes as part of a Title IX settlement with the Department of Education. UPenn will return all Division I swimming records, titles, and recognitions to the biological women who earned them before Lia Thomas's participation, the Department of Education declared Tuesday.

In addition, the institution will publicly declare that biological males will no longer be permitted to participate in women's sports and will personally apologize to each of the impacted female swimmers. The deal comes after a March decision from the Trump administration that blocked $175 million in federal money for UPenn while a Title IX investigation was conducted. Every year, UPenn receives more than $1 billion in federal assistance.

The University of Pennsylvania has signed a formal settlement agreement to resolve violations of Title IX, the federal law that forbids sex-based discrimination in education, the Department of Education stated Tuesday. The Trump administration declared the activity illegal under Title IX protections after UPenn permitted Lia Thomas, a male swimmer who identifies as transgender, to participate in women's collegiate swimming competitions.

UPenn will have to return “all individual UPenn Division I swimming records, titles, or similar recognitions” to the female athletes who were disqualified due to Thomas’s involvement, the Department said in its statement. In addition, the institution must publicly acknowledge the policy change—biological males will no longer be allowed to participate in women's sporting programs—and deliver "a personalized letter of apology to each impacted female swimmer."

The action is the most recent development in a months-long dispute between the Trump administration and the Ivy League university. President Donald Trump signed a larger executive order in February that required government funds to be withheld from schools that permitted transgender athletes to compete against women, including the financial freeze.

Paula Scanlan, a former UPenn swimmer who competed for the squad during Thomas's contentious time, commended the result. As a former swimmer at UPenn who had to compete against and share a locker room with a male athlete, she expressed her sincere gratitude to the Trump Administration for upholding its commitment to defending women and girls and reclaiming our due honors. "I am also happy that my alma mater has at last decided to follow the honorable path in addition to the legal one."

Riley Gaines, a well-known supporter of women's sports and a former NCAA swimmer, praised the deal as well. "Today's agreement with UPenn is a historic display of fulfilling that promise," Gaines continued. President Trump and Secretary McMahon vowed to protect women and girls from day one." "This Administration is adamant about ensuring that women's equality is maintained, not just talking the talk."

If UPenn had not complied, the entire amount of its federal funding—roughly $1 billion a year—might have been in jeopardy. To maintain eligibility for federal monies, the institution must now establish new compliance practices after agreeing to the terms set forth by the Department of Education.

One of the first well-known enforcement measures under Trump's updated Title IX policy, this resolution makes it quite evident that colleges that disregard women's sports safeguards would suffer serious repercussions.

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