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The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) has committed to revising its policies on women’s athletics and issuing formal apologies to affected female swimmers after a federal civil rights investigation found it in violation of Title IX.
The resolution, announced July 1 by the U.S. Department of Education, directs the Ivy League university to restore swimming accolades to female athletes and adopt a clear, biology-based definition of sex in all athletic programming.
The case centered on UPenn’s decision to allow William (Lia) Thomas, a trans-identifying male, to compete in women’s swimming during the 2021–2022 season. The move drew national attention and prompted the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to launch a Title IX investigation.
The department concluded in April that UPenn’s actions had violated federal protections for female athletes by failing to uphold the sex-based intent of the anti-discrimination law.
The agreement UPenn signed includes a list of corrective actions. The school will return misallocated records and titles to female athletes, issue individualized apology letters to those affected, and publicly affirm that it will maintain sex-based distinctions in women’s sports and facilities.
The university must also withdraw any previous materials or guidance that conflicted with the resolution’s standards and post new statements on its official websites.
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Education Secretary Linda McMahon noted the administration’s commitment to enforcing Title IX’s original intent. She described the resolution as a national win for women, stating in the announcement that it will “ensure that women’s sports are protected at the University for future generations of female athletes.”
“Today is a great victory for women and girls not only at the University of Pennsylvania, but all across our nation,” McMahon added. “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.”
Former UPenn swimmer Paula Scanlan, who had previously spoken out against the school’s handling of the situation, welcomed the outcome. She described it as a step toward correcting past harms.
“I am deeply grateful to the Trump Administration for refusing to back down on protecting women and girls and restoring our rightful accolades,” she said. “I am also pleased that my alma mater has finally agreed to take not only the lawful path, but the honorable one.”
The Department of Education’s investigation began after Scanlan testified before Congress in 2023 that she and her teammates were told to seek counseling to accept the presence of a male athlete in the women’s locker room. In the months that followed, the department froze UPenn’s federal funding and presented a proposed resolution. The university agreed to its terms rather than face referral to the Department of Justice.
Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer who has become a national advocate for protecting female athletic spaces, also weighed in.
“It is my hope that today demonstrates to educational institutions that they will no longer be allowed to trample upon women’s civil rights,” she said, “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.”
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