The Department of Education (ED) on Monday issued an ultimatum to the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) calling on the school to reverse its policy allowing men to compete in women’s sports.
ED is demanding UPenn commit to complying with Title IX, restore all female records that were stripped by biological males and issue personal apologies to all female athletes who were affected by the previous policy, according to a press release. The Trump administration previously froze over $175 million in federal funding to the Ivy League university over the issue in March.
The department said the school violated federal civil rights law for “denying women equal opportunities.”
“Little girls who look up to Riley Gaines and Paula Scanlan can find hope in today’s action – the Trump Administration will not allow male athletes to invade female private spaces or compete in female categories,” Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for Civil Rights at ED, said in the statement. “UPenn has a choice to make: do the right thing for its female students and come into full compliance with Title IX immediately or continue to advance an extremist political project that violates federal antidiscrimination law and puts UPenn’s federal funding at risk.”
UPenn first stirred chaos in 2022 when it allowed male athlete Lia Thomas, who claims he is a woman, to compete on the women’s swim team. Thomas went on to beat female records at that year’s NCAA championships. Several athletes who competed on the women’s team with Thomas have since filed a lawsuit for being forced to compete against and change in front of the man.
ED is giving UPenn 10 days to agree to the resolution or risk a referral to the Department of Justice (DOJ). UPenn did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Feb. 5 banning men from competing in women’s sports under Title IX, and further directing the Department of Education to investigate any school that violates the order. The president later doubled down by demanding the NCAA reinstate women’s records that were wiped away by male athletes.
During his presidency, former President Joe Biden attempted to rewrite Title IX, a rule meant to protect women from discrimination, to include protections for transgender individuals, which was widely criticized by Republican-led states and faced numerous legal challenges. The rule was eventually dropped.
Noncompliance with the civil rights law and the president’s directive can have dire consequences, as some states and schools are now finding out. The DOJ recently sued the state of Maine after Democrat Gov. Janet Mills apparently refused to stop allowing men to compete against women.
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