John Bazemore/AP
The University of Pennsylvania will ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports as part of a deal with President Donald Trump’s administration, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.
In February, the Department of Education opened an investigation to determine of UPenn violated Title IX. The investigation was largely focused on Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer who made national headlines for her participation in the NCAA championships. She finished fifth in her event.
Two months later, DOE determined that the university did indeed violate Title IX. To resolve the case, UPenn has agreed to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports while also stripping Thomas of her records. The report continues:
Under the agreement, Penn agreed to restore all individual Division I swimming records and titles to female athletes who lost out to Thomas, the Education Department said. Penn also agreed to send a personalized apology letter to each of those swimmers.It wasn’t immediately clear whether Thomas would be stripped of her awards and honors at Penn.The university must also announce that it “
will not allow males to compete in female athletic programs” and it must adopt “biology-based” definitions of male and female, the department said.
In a statement posted shortly after the news broke, Education Secretary Linda McMahon called it a “great victory for women and girls”:
“Today’s resolution agreement with UPenn is yet another example of the Trump effect in action. Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, UPenn has agreed both to apologize for its past Title IX violations and to ensure that women’s sports are protected at the University for future generations of female athletes,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “Today is a great victory for women and girls not only at the University of Pennsylvania, but all across our nation. The Department commends UPenn for rectifying its past harms against women and girls, and we will continue to fight relentlessly to restore Title IX’s proper application and enforce it to the fullest extent of the law.”