The university was found in violation of federal law for allowing transgender athletes to compete on its women’s sports teams.
On Monday, the Education Department said it has found the University of Pennsylvania in violation of Title IX. The university allegedly violated the federal law by allowing transgender students to compete on its women’s sports teams.
The department notified University of Pennsylvania President J. Larry Jameson of the finding and distributed a proposed resolution agreement to be signed within 10 days. The resolution requires the school to bar transgender athletes from women’s athletic programs and send letters of apology to the female athletes whose competitive experiences have been “marred by sex discrimination”.
The department said that as part of the agreement, all transgender female students’ records, awards, “or similar recognition for Division I swimming competitions” must be erased.
The swimming competitions clause refers to Lia Thomas, a former university swimmer that competed on the women’s team in 2022.
The specific instances of trans athletes at the university were not mentioned by the Education Department.
The department was asked if Penn was found to have violated Title IX because Thomas was permitted to swim on the women’s team in 2022. A spokesperson referred to a February news release that announced the Title IX investigations into Penn, San Jose State University, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Association.
The announcement of the investigation refers to Thomas by name.
In 2022, Thomas became the first transgender person to win an NCAA Division I championship after winning the women’s 500-yard freestyle in swimming. At the same championship meet, Thomas tied for fifth place in the women’s 200-yard freestyle with Riley Gaines of the University of Kentucky.
Gaines has since been outspoken against transgender women competing in women’s sports. She was present at the signing of Trump’s executive order banning transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports.
Also in February, the NCAA banned transgender women from women’s sports in order to comply with Trump’s executive order. The University of Pennsylvania is a member of the NCAA and previously stated it is following the organization’s guidelines.
With Monday’s announcement, the Education Department said it would refer the University of Pennsylvania to the Justice Department if it did not voluntarily resolve the violations in its noncompliance finding by May 8th.
