From The Hill: The University of Pennsylvania’s decision this week to sign an agreement with the Trump administration committing to barring transgender athletes from its women’s sports teams is raising questions about whether other schools might do the same faced with the weight of the federal government.
Penn, President Trump’s alma mater, is the first to sign such an agreement, which the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) proposed following an investigation that found the university violated Title IX, the federal law against sex discrimination in schools, when it allowed Lia Thomas to join the women’s swim team for the 2021-22 season.
Thomas broke three of the six Penn women’s swimming and diving individual freestyle records that year, which the university removed from its leaderboard as part of its agreement with the Trump administration. An addendum to Penn’s women’s swimming all-time school records now reads, “Competing under eligibility rules in effect at the time, Lia Thomas set program records in the 100, 200 and 500 freestyle during the 2021-22 season.”
Thomas shattered three Penn women’s swimming and diving individual freestyle records in 2021-22. However, the university removed these records from its leaderboard as part of a deal with the Trump administration. An update to Penn’s women’s swimming all-time school records now officially recognizes that Thomas set program records in the 100, 200, and 500 freestyle during that season, while following the rules at the time.
Penn agreed to post a public statement pledging Title IX compliance, prohibiting transgender women from women’s sports and facilities, and adopting biology-based definitions of “male” and “female.”
READ MORE AT The Hill.
