Trump orders UPenn to remove trans swimmer Lia Thomas from women's record books or lose millions in funds
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump is giving the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) a 10-day ultimatum to apologize for letting transgender swimmer Lia Thomas compete on the women’s team or kiss federal cash goodbye.
In a move that’s already sending shockwaves across the Ivy League and beyond, Trump’s Education Department is demanding UPenn take accountability for what it calls a blatant violation of Title IX, the law prohibiting sex discrimination in schools.
While the department’s statement doesn’t name Thomas directly, the target couldn’t be clearer. The now-retired swimmer became the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I title back in 2022, the Daily Mail reported.
Donald Trump admin wants UPenn to strip awards and apologize or lose millions in funding
According to Donald Trump's Education Department, the University of Pennsylvania violated Title IX, a law barring sex discrimination in schools and colleges, by "denying women equal opportunities by permitting males to compete in women's intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities."
Now, Trump’s team wants more than just lip service—they want receipts. The university must publicly admit it violated Title IX, revoke any awards or records Thomas earned in Division I swimming, as well as issue apologies to every female swimmer whose achievements were “marred by sex discrimination."
"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," said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights.
"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," he added.
Back in March, the Trump administration froze around $175 million in federal funding for UPenn over the Thomas controversy—a financial gut punch with money tied to the Defense Department and Health and Human Services.
The university had no comment on Monday. In the past, it has defended its actions by pointing to NCAA and Ivy League guidelines that were in place during Thomas’s swim career.
Those guidelines at the time allowed trans women who had completed a year of hormone therapy to compete in women’s sports. Thomas subsequently swam in several major competitions and absolutely dominated biological women.
A nationwide crackdown on trans athletes competing in women's sports
But the tide turned quickly. The NCAA scrapped its sport-by-sport approach the day after Donald Trump signed a February 5 executive order banning transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports.
The new policy only allows athletes assigned female at birth to compete in women’s categories. Thomas and any athlete like her would now be benched under those new rules.
But Penn’s not the only school in hot water. The Education Department is cracking down nationwide, with similar Title IX reviews underway at San Jose State University (volleyball), Denver Public Schools, Portland Public Schools, Oregon School Activities Association, and Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.
The department also sued the state of Maine, warning it must boot trans athletes from girls' and women’s sports or face legal action.
