Ivy League schools could lose federal funds if male athletes who won the NCAA swimming title as female competitors do not abandon their records.
The University of Pennsylvania (UPENN) has violated the remaining Title IX regulations from trans athletes who won the school’s NCAA girls’ swimming title in 2022 and has violated 10 days to resolve the issue.
Jameson has been informed that complying with current NCAA regulations and President Donald Trump’s February executive order to prohibit men from competing in women’s sports is not enough to meet compliance requirements. As a punitive measure, the federal government is asking UPEN to abandon its athlete’s 2022 Championship title and promote an apology to female athletes he lost.
Ivy League School will issue a statement noting that all athletic programs are Title IX compliant.
Title IX is a federal regulation implemented in 1972 that prohibits federal funding educational institutions from engaging in sex discrimination and ensures the fairness of the NCAA Women’s Sports Program. President Joe Biden, whose administration had preceded Trump’s current term, amended it to allow transgender people to participate in sports, and Trump overturned it under his executive order.
Upenn also needs to restore legitimate records, titles and honors to female athletes.
Furthermore, “The university must send a letter to each female athlete whose individual awareness has been restored and express an apology on behalf of the university for allowing her to undermine her educational experience to sexism,” a news release on April 28 said.
In 2022, transgender Upenn student Lia Thomas won the Division I NCAA Women’s Swimming Championships in a 500-yard freestyle event after competing in the men’s team in 2017-2020.
Former Kentucky female swimmer Riley Gaines, who competed with Thomas, and Paula Scanlan, a former teammate of Thomas, had to share a locker room with male athletes who identify as transgender, but are opposed to transgender participation in women’s sports.
“The little girl who respects Riley Gaines and Paula Scanlan can find hope in what they do today. The Trump administration will not allow male athletes to enter women’s private spaces or compete in the female category.”
“Upenn… can do the right thing for female students and quickly adhere to Title IX in full or continue to go ahead with extremist political projects that violate federal anti-discrimination laws and put Upenn’s federal funds at risk.”
The news release does not identify Thomas by name, but specifies that these events are linked to the NCAA Division I Swimming Championships.
The Trump administration has suspended UPENN’s federal funding for issues related to transgender swimmers.
The Epoch Times reached upenn for comments.
“Pen is fully compliant with this latest change,” the statement said. “The university’s athletics program has always been run within the framework provided by the federal government, the NCAA and our conference.”
The Justice Department recently announced it would file a lawsuit against Maine to allow male athletes identifying high school transgender people to compete in the state’s female teams.