🚨BREAKING🚨
UPenn has agreed to apologize to the female Division I swimmers who were forced to compete against Lia Thomas.
It has also committed to stripping Thomas of the titles and records he obtained while competing as a "woman," and will return them to female athletes.
Just hours ago, the US Department of Education announced that the following steps will be taken by UPenn to comply with Title IX:
- UPenn will restore to female athletes all individual UPenn Division I swimming records, titles, or similar recognitions which were misappropriated by male athletes allowed to compete in female categories;
- UPenn will 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;
- The statement will specify that UPenn will adopt biology-based definitions for the words ‘male’ and ‘female’ pursuant to Title IX and consistent with President Trump’s Executive Orders "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism" and "Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports";
- UPenn will post the statement in a prominent location on its main website and on each of its websites for women’s athletics;
- UPenn will rescind any guidance which violated Title IX, remove or revise any internal and public-facing statements or documents that are inconsistent with Title IX, and notify all staff and women’s athletics of all such rescissions; and
- UPenn will send a personalized letter of apology to each impacted female swimmer.
This action followed an investigation by the Department’s Office for Civil Rights’ that found UPenn violated Title IX by allowing Lia Thomas to compete in female athletic programs and occupy female-only locker rooms.
