The Department of Education announced the agreement with UPenn on Tuesday, a significant step away from Thomas after the school defended the swimmer.
Penn also agreed to send an apology letter to each swimmer who lost records or titles to Thomas.
“Today’s resolution agreement with UPenn is yet another example of the Trump effect in action. 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,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement.
“Today is a great victory for women and girls, not only at the University of Pennsylvania, but all across our nation. The Department commends UPenn for rectifying its past harms against women and girls, and we will continue to fight relentlessly to restore Title IX’s proper application and enforce it to the fullest extent of the law,” she added.
Thomas broke several team records on the men’s and women’s teams at Penn and became the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I title in 2022, the last time Thomas swam.
The Education Department opened an investigation into Penn earlier this year and concluded that the school violated Title IX, which bans sex discrimination in education. If Penn had resisted further, the Trump administration would likely have stripped federal funding, as it has done to other schools.
The school’s president assured his campus community that their “respectful and welcoming” environment will remain unchanged.
“Our commitment to ensuring a respectful and welcoming environment for all of our students is unwavering,” Penn President Larry Jameson wrote in a Tuesday letter to the Penn community. “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.”
Paula Scanlan, a former Penn swimmer who competed against Thomas, said she was “deeply grateful” for the agreement.
“As a former UPenn swimmer who had to compete against and share a locker room with a male athlete, I am deeply grateful to the Trump administration for refusing to back down on protecting women and girls and restoring our rightful accolades. I am also pleased that my alma mater has finally agreed to take not only the lawful path, but the honorable one,” Scanlan said. “Today marks a momentous step in repairing the past mistreatment of female athletes, and forging a future where sex discrimination plays no role in limiting girls’ potential.”
Riley Gaines, a conservative media personality and former Kentucky swimmer, who famously tied with Thomas in the 200-yard freestyle at the 2022 NCAA championships, also gave her input.
“From day one, President Trump and Secretary McMahon vowed to protect women and girls, and today’s agreement with UPenn is a historic display of that promise being fulfilled. This Administration does not just pay lip service to women’s equality: it vigorously insists on that equality being upheld,” Gaines said. “It is my hope that today demonstrates to educational institutions that they will no longer be allowed to trample upon women’s civil rights, and renews hope in every female athlete that their country’s highest leadership will not relent until they have the dignity, safety, and fairness they deserve.”
As part of the agreement, UPenn will also restore any awards, records, or other recognition to female athletes that lost out to “male athletes allowed to compete in female categories.”
A TIMELINE OF THE TRUMP-HARVARD SAGA
The school will also recognize “biology-based definitions for the words ‘male’ and ‘female’ under Title IX and consistent with President Donald Trump’s Executive Orders ‘Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism’ and ‘Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.’”
Thomas has been absent from the high-level swimming eye since losing a legal challenge aimed at including Thomas in elite-level swimming competitions through World Aquatics or USA Swimming.
