The University of Pennsylvania has reached a settlement with the Trump administration that will erase all swimming records held by transgender athlete Lia Thomas, marking a dramatic shift in the ongoing national debate over transgender participation in women’s sports.
The U.S. Department of Education announced the resolution on July 1, stating that UPenn will comply with Title IX requirements after previously allowing Thomas to compete on the women’s swimming team. Under the agreement, the university must prohibit transgender athletes from participating in female athletic programs and remove Thomas’ achievements from official records.
The settlement comes as President Trump has made restricting transgender athletes in women’s sports a cornerstone of his administration’s policy agenda. On February 5, Trump signed an executive order barring transgender women and girls from competing in school sports, threatening to cut federal funding for institutions that don’t comply.
The policy changes have reverberated throughout collegiate athletics. Just one day after Trump’s executive order, the NCAA updated its transgender participation policy to allow only student-athletes assigned female at birth to compete in women’s sports, effective immediately.
Thomas, who began transitioning in 2019 with hormone replacement therapy, competed under the NCAA and Ivy League rules that were in effect at the time. She won the NCAA Division I championship in the women’s 500-yard freestyle in spring 2022, before the current policy restrictions were implemented.
The controversy surrounding Thomas’ participation has drawn passionate testimony from fellow competitors. Paula Scanlan, a former Penn swimmer, provided emotional testimony about the situation, describing the distress experienced by team members.
“The University of Pennsylvania told my teammates and I that we had to undress in a locker room with a 6 foot 4 tall male athlete. 18 times per week,” Scanlan testified. She added that Thomas “broke every record in every event that he swam” and “every single time Thomas competed on half of the University of Pennsylvania, a girl on the team was asked to stay home.”
Scanlan also revealed that when swimmers attempted to voice concerns, administrators warned them against speaking out.
“They said, First, don’t speak out against this because you will be on the wrong side of history. They said you will be tainted by this. You will never be able to find a job,” she recounted.
The financial stakes of the dispute became clear when the White House stripped $175 million in federal funding from UPenn in March over the transgender athlete issue, demonstrating the administration’s willingness to enforce its policies through economic pressure.
UPenn President J. Larry Jameson acknowledged the investigation in a statement Tuesday, noting that during Thomas’ 2021-2022 swim season, “Penn was in compliance with NCAA eligibility rules and Title IX as then interpreted.” However, he also issued an apology “to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time.”
As part of the settlement terms, UPenn must send personalized apology letters to each female swimmer who was impacted by the previous policies. The Department of Education stated that the university will “restore to female athletes all individual UPenn Division I swimming records, titles, or similar recognitions which were misappropriated by male athletes allowed to compete in female categories.”
Education Secretary Linda McMahon praised the resolution, calling it “yet another example of the Trump effect in action.” She added, “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.”
The scope of transgender participation in collegiate athletics remains relatively small. NCAA President Charlie Baker told a Senate panel in December that fewer than 10 transgender athletes compete among the roughly 510,000 NCAA participants. This mirrors broader demographics, as the UCLA Williams Institute reports that transgender youth comprise only 1.4% of American teenagers.
Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, who has become a prominent advocate for restricting transgender participation in women’s sports, expressed satisfaction with the outcome.
“It is my hope that today demonstrates to educational institutions that they will no longer be allowed to trample upon women’s civil rights, and renews hope in every female athlete that their country’s highest leadership will not relent until they have the dignity, safety, and fairness they deserve,” Gaines stated.
While Thomas’ UPenn records will be erased, the fate of her NCAA championship and other national records remains unclear, as the NCAA has not responded to requests for comment on how the policy changes will affect previously awarded titles.
The UPenn settlement represents a significant victory for the Trump administration’s broader campaign to reshape policies around gender and athletics, signaling that educational institutions may face substantial consequences for policies that conflict with the current federal interpretation of Title IX protections.
