Penn faces inquiry amid Trump crackdown on transgender athletes
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The Trump administration is investigating potential civil rights violations at the University of Pennsylvania, the Education Department said Thursday.
The inquiry is related to Lia Thomas, who swam on Penn's women's team, becoming the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I title in 2022.
RELATED: Lia Thomas of Penn Quakers wins Ivy League swim championship
Title IX bars sex discrimination in education. However, President Trump argues allowing transgender athletes to compete deprives female students of equality.
It comes a day after Trump signed an executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports. The order calls for penalties against schools and leagues, saying competing against transgender athletes deprives female students of equality.
The Biden Administration had argued the exact opposite.
"The previous administration trampled the rights of American women and girls - and ignored the indignities to which they were subjected in bathrooms and locker rooms - to promote a radical transgender ideology," said Craig Trainor, the department's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.
Advocates for transgender students condemned the executive order Trump signed Wednesday.
"Contrary to what the president wants you to believe, trans students do not pose threats to sports, schools or this country, and they deserve the same opportunities as their peers to learn, play and grow up in safe environments," said Fatima Goss Graves, CEO of the National Women's Law Center.
Trump's executive order also prompted the NCAA to change its participation policy on Thursday, limiting competition in women's sports to athletes assigned female at birth only.
Three of Thomas' former Penn teammates are now suing Penn, seeking to scrub her records from the Ivy League and the NCAA.
RELATED: 'I am a woman': Transgender UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas shares story in Sports Illustrated interview
The Education Department has also opened reviews of San Jose State University volleyball and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Title IX has been at the center of a political tug-of-war in recent years. Under former President Joe Biden, new federal rules expanded the law to protect transgender and LGBTQ+ students. A federal judge overturned Biden's rules this year, calling them an overstep.
The Trump administration has been using Title IX to push against schools that provide accommodations for transgender students.
In his order, Trump directed federal agencies to "rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities." The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights can move to cut federal money for institutions that violate civil rights, but only if it's approved by a judge and if the office fails to negotiate a resolution.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
