Penn wipes trans swimmer records in deal with Trump
The University of Pennsylvania will bar transgender students from its women's sports teams and retroactively strip a trans female swimmer of her titles


What happened
The University of Pennsylvania said Tuesday it will bar transgender students from its women's sports teams as part of a deal with the Trump administration. Penn also agreed to retroactively strip champion trans female swimmer Lia Thomas of her records and titles and to apologize to other swimmers "disadvantaged" by her participation on the women's team during the 2021-22 season.
Who said what
Tuesday's settlement is the latest development in President Donald Trump's "ongoing campaign to remake higher education" by using taxpayer dollars to punish universities for policies that have provoked his "ire," The Wall Street Journal said. Trump has "eagerly sought to reduce transgender people's participation in public life," The New York Times said, and Penn's agreement bows to the administration's "new interpretation" of Title IX, the law that bans sex discrimination in education.
Penn allowed Thomas to compete under Title IX and NCAA rules "as then interpreted," Penn President J. Larry Jameson said in a statement. But failing to resolve the new administration's transgender-focused Title IX investigation "could have had significant and lasting implications" for the university. The NCAA began restricting trans women athletes after Trump signed an executive order threatening to "rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities." By Tuesday night, Thomas' name had been removed from the school's online records for the 100, 200 and 500 freestyle, though a note underneath said she had set those records "competing under eligibility rules in effect at the time."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
It was "not immediately clear" whether Penn's agreement would "prompt the Trump administration to restore $175 million in research funding that it suspended in March," the Times said, but it "appeared designed to limit the threat of additional repercussions for Penn."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Japan's surname conundrum
Under the Radar Law requiring couples to share one surname hinders women in the workplace and lowers birth rate, campaigners claim
-
How successful would Elon Musk's third party be?
Today's Big Question Musk has vowed to start a third party after falling out with Trump
-
Music reviews: Bruce Springsteen and Benson Boone
Feature "Tracks II: The Lost Albums" and "American Heart"
-
Education: America First vs. foreign students
Feature Trump's war on Harvard escalates as he blocks foreign students from enrolling at the university
-
Where will international students go if not the US?
Talking Points China, Canada and the UK are ready to educate the world
-
Colleges are canceling affinity graduations amid DEI attacks but students are pressing on
In the Spotlight The commencement at Harvard University was in the news, but other colleges are also taking action
-
Can Trump ban overseas students from US universities?
Today's Big Question President's decision to revoke Harvard's access to database for admitting international students 'drastically escalates' the dispute
-
Supreme Court may bless church-run charter schools
Speed Read The case is 'one of the biggest on church and state in a generation'
-
Harvard sues Trump over frozen grant money
Speed Read The Trump administration withheld $2.2 billion in federal grants and contracts after Harvard rejected its demands
-
Harvard loses $2.3B after rejecting Trump demands
speed read The university denied the Trump administration's request for oversight and internal policy changes
-
America's academic brain drain has begun
IN THE SPOTLIGHT As the Trump administration targets universities and teachers, educators are eying greener academic pastures elsewhere — and other nations are starting to take notice