The Trump administration has paused $175 million in federal funds to the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) over that institution’s inclusion of transgender athletes, according to Fox News.
The pause is pending an investigation into UPenn’s alleged Title IX violations, which could threaten the school’s entire federal funding package.
As of 2024, UPenn’s total federal funding package totaled roughly $1 billion.
UPenn is one of three institutions selected for Title IX investigation following President Trump’s signing of the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order on February 5. The Department of Education is directly investigating UPenn, San Jose State University, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association for suspected Title IX violations.
UPenn emerged at the forefront of the transgender athlete debate in 2022, when male swimmer Will Thomas decided to identify as a woman and joined the women’s team. Once on the women’s team, Will, now going by the name Lia, began defeating all his female opponents and smashing women’s NCAA records.
Thomas would win the national championship in the 500-yard freestyle at the NCAA’s and would tie then-Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines for 5th place in the 200-yard freestyle. However, only Thomas would receive the trophy for the race.
Gaines, who has since emerged as the leader of the movement to keep transgender athletes out of women’s sports, took to X on Wednesday to celebrate the Trump administration’s decisive action against UPenn.
“Three years ago to the day I raced and tied a man at the DI NCAA Championships in the 200 freestyle,” Gaines wrote. “Today, the Trump administration paused $175M in federal funding to University Pennsylvania for this reason. Serendipitous.”
The NCAA women’s swimming events of that year set off a ferocious debate that turned transgender athletes in women’s sports into a major 2024 presidential issue.
The pause or elimination of federal funds for schools and/or governments that do not comply with Trump’s executive order could continue. Multiple representatives in the state and federal government are calling for cuts in funding for school boards, schools, and governments that refuse to comply.