From a rollback of the diversity, equity and inclusion bureaucracy to accountability for antisemitism, President Donald Trump has not wasted time in going after the worst aspects of higher education.
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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President Donald Trump has been on quite the winning streak. That includes major wins in the liberal bastion of American academia.
Not bad for a Republican president.
From a rollback of the diversity, equity and inclusion bureaucracy to accountability for antisemitism on campus, Trump has not wasted time in going after the worst aspects of modern higher education.
And university leaders are paying attention, given the Trump administration’s threat to withhold federal funding to schools that don’t comply.
The latest victory is against the University of Pennsylvania, which in recent years has been in the hot seat for both its lackluster response to antisemitism as well as its decision to allow transgender athletes to compete on women’s sports teams.
From the moment he stepped foot back in the Oval Office, Trump has been committed to bringing sanity back to women’s sports and spaces. He promised to undo the damage of former President Joe Biden’s disastrous Title IX rewrite and executive orders that prioritized gender identity over biological sex.
Penn has agreed to not only prohibit transgender athletes from women’s sports, but it is also righting its past wrongs.
Penn’s mea culpa is a welcome outcome for female athletes
This all began in 2022, when Penn swimmer Lia Thomas became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I title. Thomas set many other school records, after joining the women’s team following three seasons on the men’s team.
It’s the case that really sparked the movement of women fighting for fairness in female sports. In the past three years, athletes like Riley Gaines and Paula Scanlan have become famous for being outspoken about their time with Thomas and how it affected them.
Their bravery encouraged other women and supporters to stand up as well, and Trump started to pay attention.
On Feb. 6, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights began its investigation into Penn and why it allowed Thomas to compete on the women’s team and share women’s locker rooms.
Scanlan, who was one of Thomas’ teammates, testified before Congress that the university offered psychological services to “reeducate” women athletes who were uncomfortable “undressing in front of a male.”
The department found in April that Penn had violated Title IX, and Penn entered a resolution agreement July 1 with the Trump administration.
As stated in an Education Department news release, among other things, Penn must:
- Restore to female athletes all individual Division I swimming records, titles or similar recognitions that were misappropriated by male athletes allowed to compete in female categories.
- Issue a public statement to the university community stating that it will comply with Title IX, specifying that Penn will not allow males to compete in female athletic programs or occupy Penn Athletics female intimate facilities.
- Send a personalized letter of apology to each impacted female swimmer.
This is great news for women’s sports. But will it last?
“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,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement.
I hope McMahon is right and that future generations of women are protected by Trump’s actions.
Yet, Trump has relied on executive orders to make his stand for women and female athletes. Those orders could easily be overturned by the next Democratic president. Federal courts have blocked Biden’s changes to Title IX’s definition of sex, but Trump should actively work with Congress to ensure the protections for women are clear in law.
So far, Senate Democrats have blocked legislation that would protect women permanently. That’s a shame, not only for women but also for Democrats, who can’t seem to understand that the vast majority of the country is opposed to biological males competing in women’s sports.
My fear is that universities like Penn are biding their time, doing what they must during Trump’s term but planning to go right back to their old ways once he leaves.
In the meantime, I’ll celebrate this win for women – and for Team Common Sense.
Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on X, formerly Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques
