The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) entered into a resolution agreement with the U.S. Department of Education regarding an investigation into UPenn’s compliance with Title IX over the university’s stance on women’s sports. Among the actions items UPenn agreed to was to update its women’s swimming records, which include those of transgender athlete Lia Thomas.
“UPenn has agreed to right its wrongs, restore records to the rightful female athletes, and issue an apology to the women impacted by the man they allowed to compete as a woman,” said activist and 12-time NCAA All-American swimmer Riley Gaines.
Gaines became an advocate for keeping men out of women’s sports after tying for fifth place with trans athlete Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA Championships. Thomas became the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I title. Gaines later publicly shared that she had to share a locker room with Thomas and that doing so made her uncomfortable.
“Are pigs flying?” Gaines asked in a July 1 post celebrating the news. “God bless @realDonaldTrump.”’
University of Pennsylvania and Department of Education Reach Resolution Agreement
On Feb. 5, Riley Gaines appeared at the White House with other female athletes to show her support for an executive order (EO) from President Trump titled, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”
The EO cited Title IX, which “prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance,” and stated:
In recent years, many educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to compete in women’s sports. This is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.
“It is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities,” said the EO, “which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy.”
On Feb. 6, the Department of Education announced several investigations, including one into the University of Pennsylvania regarding whether UPenn had violated Title IX by giving Lia Thomas “a male, a roster spot on the Women’s Swimming and Diving team.”
Also on Feb. 6, the NCAA responded to the EO by announcing a policy change regarding transgender athletes: “The new policy limits competition in women’s sports to student-athletes assigned female at birth only.”
 entered into a resolution agreement with the U.S. Department of Education regarding an investigation into UPenn’s compliance with Title IX over the university’s stance on transgender athletes competing in women’s sports.){kind=link}