NEWSUPenn Strips Trans Swimmer Lia Thomas of Titles Amid Pressure from Trump Administration
The University of Pennsylvania stripped Lia Thomas of her titles and issued apologies to female athletes after a Title IX probe by the Trump administration.
July 12 2025, Published 3:29 p.m. ET
Transgender swimming champion Lia Thomas will lose her titles at the University of Pennsylvania after the Ivy League school caved to pressure from Donald Trump's administration.
The university will also offer formal apologies to every biological female competitor who lost to a transgender athlete as a result of an investigation by the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
The probe claimed UPenn allowed 'a male to compete in female athletic programs.'
The probe concluded that UPenn violated Title IX by "allowing a male to compete in female athletic programs and occupy female-only intimate facilities."
"Today's resolution agreement with UPenn is yet another example of the Trump effect in action," Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated. "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."
Lia Thomas will be stripped of her past Division I swimming titles at UPenn.
This decision means that Thomas will be stripped of her past Division I swimming titles at UPenn after the school faced mounting pressure from the Trump administration.
As part of the resolution agreement, UPenn must undertake several actions, including implementing "biology-based definitions for 'male' and 'female' under Title IX" and publicly stating that it will no longer permit biological men to compete in female athletic programs or use women-only locker rooms.
The university's stance has been welcomed by conservative-leaning athletes who blasted the presence of trans athletes in women's sports in recent years.
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"As a former UPenn swimmer 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," expressed Paula Scanlan, a former University of Pennsylvania swimmer. "I am also pleased that my alma mater has finally agreed to take not only the lawful path, but the honorable one."
Conservative-leaning athletes welcomed the Trump administration's decision.
Riley Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer known for her outspoken views on the matter, added, "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."
Donald Trump signed the 'Keeping Men out of Women's Sports' order in February 2025.
In February, Trump signed an executive order titled "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports," which reinterprets Title IX to prohibit transgender girls and women from competing in female athletic programs and using women's locker rooms.
This order asserts that allowing transgender women to compete in women's sports deprives cisgender women of fair opportunities and endangers their safety and privacy.
