U.S. Halts $175 Million for UPenn Over Trans Athlete
The Trump administration has paused federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania for allowing a transgender swimmer to compete in 2022.
The Trump administration suspended $175 million in federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania as punishment for having allowed transgender swimmer Lia Thomas to compete in 2022.
Thomas originally competed for the men’s swim team but competed on the women’s team following her transition.
She complied with what NCAA regulations regarding transgender athlete eligibility were at the time, undergoing hormone therapy for a year before competing.
In 2022, Thomas began breaking school and meet records, becoming the first transgender woman to win an NCAA swimming championship medal in the Division I women’s 500-yard freestyle event.
She also placed fifth in the 200-yard freestyle — tying with Riley Gaines, who has since marshaled her anger over Thomas’ participation into becoming an anti-transgender activist — and eighth in the 100-yard freestyle at the championships.
Since taking office, President Trump has directed the Department of Education to investigate schools that allow (or have allowed) transgender athletes to compete on sports teams aligning with their gender identity.
Trump promised that the department would investigate specific colleges with known cases of transgender athletes while signing an executive order barring transgender females from competing in girls’ and women’s sports. That order also threatens to strip funds away from schools that allow transgender athletes to participate on female-designated sports teams.
The Department of Education subsequently announced last month that it was launching an investigation of UPenn for alleged violations of Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in educational activities and institutions that receive federal funding.
It also opened reviews of San Jose State University, where a transgender athlete was allegedly allowed on the girls’ volleyball team last fall, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, which allows trans competitors to compete on teams that align with their gender identity.
A senior White House official confirmed to NBC News that the agencies halted the funds for UPenn — which came from the Defense Department and the Department of Health and Human Services — specifically because of Thomas’ 2022 participation.
The official — who referred to Thomas as a male and condemned the school for allowing her to use the women’s locker room — said the pause was not the result of an investigation launched by the Department of Education, instead claiming that the funds were suspended as part of a separate review of discretionary federal money going to universities.
However, NBC notes that it is unlikely that the funds would have been frozen unless the school was determined, as part of that investigation, to have violated Title IX.
A spokesperson for the university told The Associated Press that it had not received any notification or details about the funds that were frozen.
“It is important to note, however, that Penn has always followed NCAA and Ivy League policies regarding student participation on athletic teams,” spokesperson Ron Ozio told the news agency. “We have been in the past, and remain today, in full compliance with the regulations that apply to not only Penn, but all of our NCAA and Ivy League peer institutions.”
It should also be noted that UPenn has since changed its transgender athlete participation policy to comply with the NCAA, which changed its eligibility guidelines in response to Trump’s executive order. Under current NCAA policy, transgender women may only practice with, but may not compete against cisgender women, being limited to competing in either men’s or “open” mixed-gender events.
As such, it makes it even more alarming that UPenn is being punished retroactively, since the Trump administration is effectively seeking to punish UPenn and other universities for actions taken before Trump assumed office, which were in compliance with federal law and NCAA policy at the time.
Conservatives routinely argue that allowing transgender women to compete in female-designated events is inherently unfair, because individuals who have undergone male puberty retain biological and physiological advantages over cisgender competitors. Like Trump, they also claim that allowing transgender athletes to compete as women violates the spirit of Title IX, which has been credited with expanding athletic and academic opportunities for women.
Last month, three former UPenn swimmers filed a lawsuit last month against UPenn, Harvard University, the Ivy League, and the NCAA, accusing them of violating Title IX by allowing Thomas to compete in the Ivy League championships.
Trump’s order prohibiting sports participation by trans athletes is one of many actions he’s taken to restrict transgender rights.
He also decreed that the U.S. government will only recognize two sexes, which are fixed from the moment of birth. Other executive orders include restricting access to gender-affirming care for people younger than 19 and barring transgender people from continuing to serve in the Armed Forces. Both of those orders have been temporarily blocked by federal courts.
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