Trump family has strong ties to University of Pennsylvania. After school bans trans athletes from women’s sports, a famous alum posted on social media site X.
UPenn to ban transgender athletes due to Title IX violations
The University of Pennsylvania has decided to ban transgender athletes due to Title IX violations related to swimmer Lia Thomas.
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- In a July 2, 2025, tweet, Donald Trump Jr. called it a, “YUGE win for female athletes and common sense. Glad to my alma mater (and DJT’s) coming to the table with common sense.”
- Penn had been under investigation surrounding the case of Lia Thomas, the first openly transgender athlete to win a NCAA Division I title.
- Donald Trump, his eldest son and his daughters graduated from the University of Pennsylvania.
- Barron Trump chose NYU over Penn and Georgetown University.
After the University of Pennsylvania agreed to prohibit transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports and strip the record of former swimmer Lia Thomas as part of an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education, one of its most famous alums reacted to the news.
In a July 2 tweet, Donald Trump Jr. called it a, “YUGE win for female athletes and common sense. Glad to my alma mater (and DJT’s) coming to the table with common sense.” Like his father, President Donald Trump, the eldest Trump son graduated from the University of Pennsylvania.
Penn entered the resolution agreement Tuesday, July 1, to comply with Title IX, the Department of Education announced, as the university had been under investigation surrounding the case of Thomas, who became the first openly transgender athlete to win a NCAA Division I title.
Under the agreement, Penn will restore the swimming records and titles of its female athletes that were broken by Thomas. The university also will not allow transgender athletes to compete in female athletic programs, and it has to send personal apology letters to impacted swimmers. Those letters started surfacing days after the deal with the Trump administration.
Which Trump family members graduated from University of Pennsylvania?
The Trump family has strong ties to two universities — the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Here’s a list of who graduated from Penn.
- President Donald Trump graduated from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in May 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in economics.
- Donald Trump Jr., eldest son of Donald Trump and the late Ivana Trump, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2000. Like his father, Donald Trump Jr. has a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance.
- Ivanka Trump, daughter of Donald Trump and Ivana Trump, was a student at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., but transferred after two years to the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Ivanka Trump graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in economics from Penn in 2004.
- Tiffany Trump, daughter of Donald Trump and his second ex-wife Marla Maples, attended the University of Pennsylvania and graduated in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. Four years later, Tiffany Trump graduated from Georgetown Law School as part of the class of 2020.
Donald Trump’s other sons, Eric Trump and Barron Trump, have no ties to the University of Pennsylvania.
- Eric Trump, son of Donald and Ivana Trump, graduated from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., with a bachelor’s degree in finance and management in 2006.
- Barron Trump, sole child of Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, is a rising sophomore at New York University. His decision to choose a college in New York stood out — however, the youngest Trump is following much of the family in pursuing a business degree, but forging a new path in choosing the Stern School of Business, known as NYU Stern. His parents never disclosed why he chose NYU over University of Penn or Georgetown, but the main campus is in Manhattan, where Barron Trump spent much of his childhood — and lived until his father was sworn in as the 45th president in early 2017.
Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.
