University of Pennsylvania to Prohibit Transgender Participation in Women’s Sports

The U.S. Education Department announced on July 1, 2025, that the University of Pennsylvania has agreed to ban transgender athletes from its women’s sports teams to settle a federal civil rights case that found the university violated female athletes’ rights, as reported by the Associated Press.

The case, instigated by the Trump administration, ensued following an investigation by the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights centered on swimmer Lia Thomas, a prominent figure targeted by Republicans and Trump in recent years. In 2022, Thomas became the first openly transgender athlete to clinch a Division I title in the women’s 500-yard freestyle.

The case determined that Penn, an Ivy League institution, contravened Title IX — the law enacted in 1972 to prohibit sex discrimination in education — by allowing males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to access women-only intimate facilities.

Furthermore, UPenn stated it will “not allow males to compete in female athletic programs” and will establish “biology-based” definitions of male and female. The university will also restore all individual Division I swimming records and titles to the female athletes who Thomas outperformed, in addition to sending apology letters to those affected, according to the Education Department.

In a statement, Education Secretary Linda McMahon remarked, “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.”.