WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has suspended approximately $175 million in federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania over the participation of a transgender athlete in its swimming program, the White House said Wednesday.
The Ivy League school has been facing an Education Department investigation focusing on in its swimming program. That inquiry was announced last month immediately after President Donald Trump signed an executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from competing in girls and women’s sports.
The investigation opened by the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights at Penn focuses on Lia Thomas, who swam on the school’s women’s team and was the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I title in 2022.
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“I’m a woman, so I belong on the women’s team. Trans people deserve that same respect every other athlete gets,” Thomas said.
The agency also opened reviews of San Jose State University volleyball and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.
But the federal money was suspended in a separate review of discretionary federal money going to universities, the White House said. The money that was paused came from the Defense Department and the Department of Health and Human Services.
A Penn spokesperson said the school had not received any notification or details of the action.
“It is important to note, however, that Penn has always followed NCAA and Ivy League policies regarding student participation on athletic teams,” spokesperson Ron Ozio said. “We have been in the past, and remain today, in full compliance with the regulations that apply to not only Penn, but all of our NCAA and Ivy League peer institutions.”
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