In another settlement victory for the Trump administration, the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) has agreed to no longer allow transgender-identifying biological men to compete in women’s sports.
The U.S. Department of Education announced earlier this week that (UPenn) has entered into a Resolution Agreement to comply with Title IX.
This comes after the department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opened a Title IX investigation into UPenn for awarding Lia Thomas, who previously competed as a male swimmer, a roster spot on the Women’s Swimming and Diving Team, according to a Department of Education press release.
Thomas was the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I Title.
In February, the administration announced its investigation and a few weeks later froze $175 million of the school’s funding.
By April, the administration investigation concluded the university violated the rights of female athletes by allowing a male to compete in female athletic programs and occupy female-only intimate facilities.
One of Thomas’ former teammates, Paula Scanlan, testified before Congress that she and her teammates were “offered psychological services to attempt to re-educate us to become comfortable with the idea of undressing in front of a male,” the Department’s announcement outlines.
UPenn has agreed to “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,” and issue a public statement that they are now complying with Title IX.
“[UPenn] will not allow males to compete in female athletic programs or occupy Penn Athletics female intimate facilities,” the agreement explains. Additionally, UPenn will send a personalized letter of apology to each impacted female swimmer.
Riley Gaines, who became a prominent voice in fighting for keeping men out of women’s sports after tying for fifth place with Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA Championships, expressed disbelief about UPenn’s agreement and thanked President Trump.
“UPenn has agreed to right its wrongs, restore records to the rightful female athletes, and issue an apology to the women impacted by the man they allowed to compete as a woman,” the 12-time All-American swimmer wrote. “Are pigs flying? God Bless @realDonald Trump.”
UPenn has agreed to right its wrongs, restore records to the rightful female athletes, and issue an apology to the women impacted by the man they allowed to compete as a woman.
Are pigs flying?
God bless @realDonaldTrump. pic.twitter.com/PZxcieyp7m
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) July 1, 2025
Meanwhile, a host of other female sports advocates are also applauding the move.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon called it a “great victory for women and girls.”
“Today’s resolution agreement with UPenn is yet another example of the Trump effect in action. 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,” she said in the statement.
Scanlan said she was “deeply grateful.”
“I am also pleased that my alma mater has finally agreed to take not only the lawful path, but the honorable one,” the former University of Pennsylvania swimmer said. “Today marks a momentous step in repairing the past mistreatment of female athletes, and forging a future where sex discrimination plays no role in limiting girls’ potential.”
As CBN News reported, President Trump signed an executive order in February titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” requiring schools, colleges, and athletic associations that “deny women single-sex sports and single-sex locker rooms” to stop the practice, and it directs state attorneys general to identify best practices for enforcing the mandate.
The order was an about-face from Biden-era policies that attempted to change the meaning of “sex” in Title IX to include “gender identity.”
In an official statement after UPenn’s resolution agreement, Gaines thanked the White House for following through on campaign promises.
“From day one, President Trump and Secretary McMahon vowed to protect women and girls, and today’s agreement with UPenn is a historic display of that promise being fulfilled. This Administration does not just pay lip service to women’s equality: it vigorously insists on that equality being upheld,” Gaines stated.
“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,” she added.
