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UPenn to Ban Transgender Women in Sports, Restore Records in Federal Title IX Deal

Ending the Title IX probe into Lia Thomas’s eligibility, the settlement restores Penn’s access to federal funding.

Overview

  • Penn will prohibit males from women’s athletic programs and adopt biology-based definitions of sex under the DOE resolution.
  • The agreement mandates restoration of all Division I swim records and titles to female athletes who competed against Lia Thomas, along with personalized apology letters.
  • In April, the DOE’s Office for Civil Rights found Penn in violation of Title IX for allowing Thomas to join the women’s team, prompting the settlement.
  • The Trump administration had threatened to suspend $175 million in federal funds to compel Penn to comply with its interpretation of sex discrimination rules.
  • Earlier this year, the NCAA tightened its transgender eligibility policy to restrict women’s competition to athletes assigned female at birth, dovetailing with the federal deal.