Lia Thomas, Title IX and $175M: Why Penn struck a deal with Trump
Because of the agreement, the Trump administration will lift a freeze on millions in federal funding for the school, Education Department spokeswoman Madison Biedermann said.
"TRUMP ADMIN BRINGS UPENN TO ITS KNEES."
That was the chyron across the screen on Fox News on July 1, as conservative host Laura Ingraham clapped for Education Secretary Linda McMahon and anti-transgender activist Riley Gaines.
The trio was celebrating a controversial announcement made by the Education Department earlier in the day: The University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League school in Philadelphia, agreed to work with the federal government to resolve an investigation into its campus. As part of the deal, the university sent apology letters to female swimmers who competed alongside Lia Thomas, a transgender former student who won a national title while competing for the school in 2022.
In 2022, trans rights advocates celebrated the moment as historic. Many conservatives have since criticized Thomas' win, arguing she had an unfair competitive advantage.
Penn also said this week it would bar trans athletes from participating in women's sports. That change had no immediate effect, though, since Penn no longer has any athletes who are trans women. Following an order by President Donald Trump that such participation was illegal, no university in the National Collegiate Athletic Association has allowed student-athletes who aren't assigned female at birth to compete in women's sports.
In exchange for Penn's concessions, the Trump administration took a step it has rarely taken since the government began targeting elite colleges: It lifted a pause on a multimillion-dollar chunk of Penn's federal funding, which had been frozen for months.
Some condemned the accord as another political assault on higher education. Others hailed it as a win for female athletes.
The education secretary seemed to view it as a blueprint for colleges that decide that working with the Trump administration is in their best interest.
"We hope that that agreement is going to be a template for other universities who acknowledge that there is no room for men in women's sports," she said on Fox.
March: $175 million frozen
In March, the federal government suspended roughly $175 million in contracts to Penn, alleging the university had violated Title IX, the primary law governing sex discrimination at schools, when it allowed Thomas to compete.
It wasn't long before professors started receiving stop-work orders on a wide array of projects. Research on preventing hospital-acquired infections, drug screening for deadly viruses and protecting against chemical warfare ground to a halt, the university said at the time.
The effects were immediately harmful, said J. Larry Jameson, Penn's president.
"Federal funding freezes and cancellations jeopardize lifesaving and life-improving research, the loss of which will be felt by society and individuals far beyond our campus for years to come," he said in a public statement on March 25.
That funding will now start flowing again, according to Madison Biedermann, an Education Department spokeswoman.
In a new statement on July 1, the university's president called the issue "complex" and said he was glad to have reached a resolution with the government.
"Our commitment to ensuring a respectful and welcoming environment for all of our students is unwavering," he said. "At the same time, we must comply with federal requirements, including executive orders, and NCAA eligibility rules, so our teams and student-athletes may engage in competitive intercollegiate sports."
'Negotiation' or 'extortion'?
Some higher education leaders criticized Penn's agreement as unnecessary capitulation. Todd Wolfson, president of the American Association of University Professors, called it "negotiation in the face of extortion."
What Penn did sent a harmful message to trans students on campus, he said.
"At a meta level, universities can't sell out trans people to satisfy the ideological demands of a thug," he said.
Amanda Shanor, an assistant professor at the Wharton School, said students have been divided over whether Penn's decision was the right one. The day after the announcement, she felt a sense of "sadness and rage" among faculty like herself.
"Are they going to leave Penn alone after this?" she said. "I don't know."
Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for Paste BN. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.