UPenn Will Strip ‘Lia’ Thomas of Medals, Apologize to Female Athletes
The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) has entered into a monumental Resolution Agreement with the U.S. Department of Education (ED) agreeing to comply with Title IX.
The resolution comes after the ED, in April, found UPenn consistently violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 by permitting a male to compete in women’s athletics and enter women’s locker rooms and bathrooms.
UPenn was one of the worst violators of Title IX, allowing Will Thomas, born male and now going by Lia, to compete on the university’s women’s swimming and diving team, where he quickly racked up the “victories.”
In 2021, Thomas “won” three swim events for UPenn, set a pair of program records and posted the top time in the NCAA in two events.
In 2022, Thomas won two victories against Dartmouth and Yale, winning the women’s 200-yard freestyle and the women’s 500-yard freestyle. A couple weeks later, Thomas won two more races for UPenn in a dual meet against Harvard, including the women’s 100- and 200-yard freestyle races.
Thomas then capped off his season by stealing first place in the NCAA championships 500-yard freestyle race, taking the podium from real women, Emma Weyant, Erica Sullivan and Brooke Ford, who were awarded “second, third and fourth” places respectively.
For his success in beating female athletes, UPenn nominated Thomas as the NCAA “Woman of the Year” in 2022.
On February 5, President Trump signed an executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” directing the secretary of education to protect female athletes and the opportunities guaranteed to them by Title IX.
One day later, the ED launched a civil rights investigation into UPenn, leading to the finding that the university violated Title IX, and the July 1 Resolution Agreement.
As a part of the resolution, UPenn has agreed to:
- Strip Thomas of his records.
- Restore to female athletes all individual UPenn Division I swimming records, titles, or similar recognitions which were misappropriated by male athletes.
- Issue a public statement to the University community stating that it will comply with Title IX, specifying that UPenn will not allow males to compete in female athletic programs or occupy Penn Athletics female intimate facilities.
- Adopt biology-based definitions for the words “male” and “female” pursuant to Title IX.
- Send a personal letter of apology to each impacted female swimmer.
In exchange, the ED will release $175 million in previously frozen federal funding to UPenn.
“We told them that institutions that violate federal civil rights law could lose their federal funding,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in remarks announcing the agreement. “We went a step further and froze over a hundred million dollars in federal grants to show just how seriously this Administration takes Title IX enforcement.”
“So UPenn came back to the table and asked us what they can do to make it right.”
Secretary McMahon said in a separate statement, “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.”
Secretary McMahon added,
At the Tuesday event celebrating the agreement, Secretary McMahon was joined by fierce women’s rights advocates Paula Scanlan and Riley Gaines. The secretary put all other educational institutions on notice:
Secretary McMahon also gave an interview to Fox News’ Laura Ingraham touting the agreement:
Scanlan, a sexual assault survivor who swam for UPenn, was told by the university she would “be on the wrong side of history” if she spoke out against allowing a male in her locker room. UPenn also offered to “re-educate” her to help her “become more comfortable sharing previously sex-segregated spaces with members of the opposite sex.”
Furthermore, UPenn told Scanlan she would “regret talking to the media” if she spoke out against the university’s policies.
In a statement on the agreement, Scanlan said,
Gaines, who was forced to compete against Thomas while swimming at the University of Kentucky, said in a statement,
The great Soviet dissident Aleksander Solzhenitsyn wrote in 1974, “And therein we find, neglected by us, the simplest, the most accessible key to our liberation: a personal nonparticipation in lies!”
When people refuse to “live by lies,” the truth wins out. This story proves exactly that.
We thank Secretary McMahon, Riley Gaines, Paula Scanlan and all the courageous individuals who refused to back down or live by lies. This great victory belongs to them.
Related articles and resources:
Education Department Finds UPenn Violated Title IX & Women’s Rights
Outrage Ensues After UPenn Nominates Male Swimmer as NCAA ‘Woman of the Year’
Male Athlete Set to Win Women’s NCAA National Swimming Championships
Female Swimmer Speaks Out Against Male Competing in Her Sport
Swimmer – Born Male – Eligible to Compete Against Women in Ivy League and NCAA Championships
Male-Bodied UPenn Athlete Wins Women’s Swimming Events – Again
Photo from Getty Images.
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