The University of Pennsylvania has reached a deal with the Trump administration to ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports at the school. The agreement, which includes erasing the achievements of swimmer Lia Thomas, will allow the school to access $175 million in funds that had been frozen during the dispute.

Thomas’ achievements erased under deal that bans trans athletes in women’s sports

The Department of Education announced that the University of Pennsylvania had reached a voluntary agreement with the government to resolve the dispute over transgender athletes, which largely revolved around swimmer Lia Thomas. Under the agreement, Penn will erase the records and accomplishments achieved by Thomas during her time competing for the school, including records in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 500-meter freestyle events. Thomas’ records and victories will be awarded to female non-transgender athletes who competed in the events won by Thomas.

Beyond the impact on Thomas, who last competed for Penn in 2022, the deal will ban other transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports for the school. This policy change follows additional restrictions placed on transgender athletes by the NCAA after pressure from the Trump administration, which had accused college sports of violating Title IX by allowing trans athletes to compete in women’s sporting events. UPenn President J. Larry Jameson stated in a news release that “Penn has always followed — and continues to follow — Title IX and the applicable policy of the NCAA regarding transgender athletes.” After making this deal, UPenn has regained access to $175 million in federal funds that the administration halted earlier in 2025, according to a statement from the White House on Tuesday.

GOP focus on trans exclusion under Trump

The Republican Party and the Trump administration have highlighted issues relating to transgender individuals in spaces such as sports and the military, generally seeking to limit or ban participation. Early in his current term, Trump issued executive orders banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s and girls’ sports, banning federal funding for transition-related health care for minors, and limiting federal recognition to biological sex rather than gender. Trump also banned transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. military, arguing that their health care costs were too expensive.

With issues of trans rights remaining polarized across party lines, reaction to the UPenn deal was mixed. College athlete turned Republican commentator Riley Gaines, who has pushed to ban trans athletes from women’s sports after tying with Thomas in a competition, celebrated the deal.

Others called out the Trump administration for targeting trans people for political reasons and condemned the Penn leadership from giving in to pressure. “UPenn was afraid of losing funding, and they’ve decided humiliating Lia Thomas is a worthy price to pay to save themselves,” writer Charlotte Clymer tweeted.

UPenn was afraid of losing funding, and they've decided humiliating Lia Thomas is a worthy price to pay to save themselves. Lia Thomas did nothing wrong. She followed the rules and competed fairly and honorably. UPenn's leadership are cowards. https://t.co/g97K8UkjmN
— Charlotte Clymer 🇺🇦 (@cmclymer) July 1, 2025

Tuesday’s deal with the University of Pennsylvania comes as the result of another effort by the Trump administration to limit participation by transgender people in a variety of settings. In doing so, Trump and the university appear to have brought to an end the high-profile case of Lia Thomas and restricted the future sports careers of other trans athletes as well. With both conservatives and progressives focusing on LGBTQ+ rights as a priority, this is unlikely to be the end of the political debate over the rights of transgender people in sports or other aspects of public life.

Title IX

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