Penn revokes Lia Thomas’ titles in Title IX settlement with federal officials

The University of Pennsylvania has agreed to resolve a Title IX investigation with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), following findings that it unlawfully allowed a transgender woman to compete on the women’s swim team in violation of federal policy.

The issue arose when Lia Thomas, a transgender athlete, won the NCAA Division I women’s 500-yard freestyle championship in 2022 while representing Penn. This raised controversy over fairness in women’s sports and prompted an OCR investigation, backed by a Trump-era executive order banning such participation.

Under the newly reached agreement, Penn must:

• Disavow previous policies and publicly apologize to female athletes “disadvantaged” by Thomas’s participation.
• Remove Thomas’s titles, records, and recognitions from school and NCAA archives, retroactively awarding them to female competitors.
• Adopt “biology-based” definitions of sex under Title IX and affirm no males may join women’s sports or enter women-only facilities.
• Send personalized letters of apology to any female athletes impacted.
• Issue a formal public commitment to Title IX compliance and current NCAA eligibility rules—effective February 2025—which restrict women’s sports to those assigned female at birth.

The OCR gave Penn 10 days after its April ruling to comply voluntarily or face a Department of Justice enforcement action, after which $175 million in federal research funding was suspended. 

The NCAA has since updated its own rules to limit eligibility in women’s sports to those assigned female at birth.

Penn President J. Larry Jameson issued a statement that said the university adhered to NCAA and Ivy League policies at the time but now acknowledges that Thomas’s participation created unfair conditions for female athletes.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the agreement a “common sense” victory affirming protections for women’s sports under Title IX.

Supporters of transgender inclusion, including LGBTQ+ advocacy groups like the ACLU, argue that allowing only athletes assigned female at birth undermines individual rights and counters decades of Title IX advancements.

Penn has already removed Thomas’s records and issued a statement affirming compliance with Title IX and federal law. 

The agreement formally closes the OCR’s probe, but reinstating funding hinges on full compliance. The resolution also sets a precedent for how colleges nationwide will navigate the tension between inclusion and equity in women’s athletics.