The U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday that the University of Pennsylvania has entered into an agreement that requires the school to keep men out of women’s sports.
UPenn also agreed to apologize to the members of the school’s women’s swim team who were forced to share a locker room with men claiming to be women.
Additionally, “UPenn will 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,” according to the terms of the agreement.
The university also agreed to “adopt biology-based definitions for the words ‘male’ and ‘female’ pursuant to Title IX and consistent with President Trump’s Executive Orders ‘Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism’ and ‘Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.’”
“UPenn will send a personalized letter of apology to each impacted female swimmer,” the agreement stated.
BREAKING:
UPenn will formally apologize for allowing Lia Thomas to compete as a woman.
The tide is turning! pic.twitter.com/Dn9M2WkhKQ
— Laura Powell (@LauraPowellEsq) July 1, 2025
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon responded to the development, saying, “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 added, “Today is a great victory for women and girls not only at the University of Pennsylvania, but all across our nation. The Department commends UPenn for rectifying its past harms against women and girls, and we will continue to fight relentlessly to restore Title IX’s proper application and enforce it to the fullest extent of the law.”
Do you think UPenn is serious about cleaning up its act?
Former UPenn swimmer Paula Scanlan said in a release from the Department of Education that as someone who had “to compete against and share a locker room with a male athlete, I am deeply grateful to the Trump Administration for refusing to back down on protecting women and girls and restoring our rightful accolades.”
“I am also pleased that my alma mater has finally agreed to take not only the lawful path, but the honorable one,” she continued. “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.”
Guys. Look what just came into my inbox LMAO pic.twitter.com/deBx4eQvNr
— Paula Scanlan (@PaulaYScanlan) July 1, 2025
Fox News reported that the Education Department launched an investigation into UPenn on Feb. 6 for Title IX violations in relation to Lia Thomas, who previously competed with the men’s team, but then identified as female and joined the women’s squad during the 2021-2022 season.
In March 2022, Thomas won the NCAA Division I 500-yard freestyle. He also placed fifth in the 200-yard and eighth in the 100-yard freestyle.
about dang time https://t.co/AnaKfVJigm
— Paula Scanlan (@PaulaYScanlan) July 1, 2025
It became a watershed moment in the trans athlete controversy when University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines was forced to give her trophy in the 200-yard freestyle to Thomas, taking a 6th place one instead, though the two had tied in the race.
Here’s a photo of Lia Thomas and Riley Gaines after they tied for 5th in the women’s 200 freestyle.
Riley told @realDailyWire that an official told her to hold the sixth place trophy.
“We just want Lia to hold the fifth place trophy.”
(via Getty by Rich von Biberstein) pic.twitter.com/hMKPlx6UhW
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) March 23, 2022
“Thomas held three of the six individual freestyle records for Penn women’s swimming and diving as of 2022,” according to Newsweek.
Gaines also expressed her gratitude to the Trump administration.
“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,” she said in a statement.
Fox reported that UPenn released a statement acknowledging the resolution agreement.
“Yesterday, Penn and the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) resolved a February 2025 investigation into Penn’s compliance with Title IX for women’s athletics. This is a complex issue, and I am pleased that we were able to reach a resolution through the standard OCR process for concluding Title IX investigations,” the statement said.
.@PaulaYScanlan reacts to news that her university, UPenn, has been forced to protect women’s spaces: “This is, quite literally, what I voted for!” pic.twitter.com/hoUJABdjOv
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) July 1, 2025
“While Penn’s policies during the 2021-2022 swim season were in accordance with NCAA eligibility rules at the time, we acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules. We recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time,” the school added.
“We will review and update the Penn women’s swimming records set during that season to indicate who would now hold the records under current eligibility guidelines.”
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