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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Reverting records, a written apology and policy changes: How UPenn
reached a deal with the White House over trans athletes and $175
million in federal funding
By Danny Freeman, CNN
Updated:
1:41 PM EDT, Thu July 3, 2025
Source: CNN
President Donald Trump’s alma mater recognized early on it could be
under threat.
A week after the University of Pennsylvania alumnus’ inauguration,
the university president composed a message to the school community:
“Like you, I am closely monitoring recent developments from
Washington that directly affect higher education.”
“Together we will protect and preserve what defines us as Penn,”
then-interim President J. Larry Jameson .
A week later, the university was under by the federal government.
What followed was a high-stakes, months-long back-and-forth between one
of the country’s most prestigious universities and the Department of
Education.
But the battle over $175 million in frozen federal funding that
centered around women’s sports at UPenn, and one transgender swimmer
in particular, would unfold much differently — for now — from the
ongoing funding fight its sister Ivy League institution, Harvard
University, has been waging with the Trump administration.
The deal reached this week between UPenn and the DOE, which restored
the federal funding to the university, drew substantial praise from the
Trump administration and conservatives. It also drew accusations of
surrender and capitulation from some faculty, local politicians, and
more.
In the end, UPenn’s president maintained the university remained
committed to “fostering a community that is welcoming, inclusive and
open to all students, faculty and staff.”
But Jameson the deal with the administration was made because “if
unresolved, (the investigation) could have had significant and lasting
implications for the University of Pennsylvania.”
Title IX and $175 million on the line
The conflict began in earnest in early February, when President Trump
titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”
“You’ve been waiting a long time for this,” said Trump, flanked
by dozens of young girls and female athletes at a ceremonial signing at
the White House.
“So have I.”
The following day, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil
Rights announced an investigation into three entities, including the
University of Pennsylvania, for violating Title IX by “denying women
an equal opportunity to participate in sports.”
Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination at any academic institution
that receives federal funding.
The DOE specifically , a transgender woman and UPenn swimmer, as the
basis for the investigation into the university.
In 2022, Thomas won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
championship for Penn competing in the women’s 500-yard freestyle.
Since then, Thomas has become a symbol for those — including Trump
— hoping to prevent transgender women from competing in women’s
sports.
After the president’s executive action, the NCAA announced a limiting
“competition in women’s sports to student-athletes assigned female
at birth only.”
UPenn said it complied with the new rules of the NCAA—and maintained
it hadn’t violated Title IX when Thomas competed three years ago,
saying it was just following NCAA guidance at the time.
But the university said it was blindsided when it learned that the
Trump administration had frozen $175 million of federal funding to the
school anyway.
Jameson said the funding cut impacted research, “preventing
hospital-acquired infections, drug screening against deadly viruses,
quantum computing, protections against chemical warfare, and student
loan programs.”
“We expect to continue to engage with (the DOE Office of Civil
Rights), vigorously defending our position,” he wrote to the Penn
community on March 25.
By the end of April, the DOE’s investigation concluded Penn had
violated Title IX.
But also that month, according to , Penn came to the negotiating table.
“They signed on the dotted line”
The by the DOE’s Office of Civil Rights to become Title IX compliant
were relatively straightforward.
UPenn had to issue a statement that it would comply with Title IX in
its athletic programs, restore records and titles to the women who
competed against Thomas and any other transgender women, and write
apologies to those women who competed against Thomas.
As UPenn’s leadership released public statements on a new front with
the Trump administration — visas for foreign students being
threatened — internally, the university was working with the
administration to comply with the Title IX investigation.
“UPenn came back to the table and asked us what they can do to make
it right,” said Education Secretary Linda McMahon in remarks
published Tuesday evening.
“We said, ‘You have to completely rewrite your institutional
policy.’ They signed on the dotted line,” said McMahon.
“We said, ‘You have to take these steps with records and reporting
so this never happens again.’ They signed on the dotted line.”
“We said, ‘You owe (former UPenn swimmer Paula Scanlan), (former
collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines), and the other female athletes
you’ve wronged a formal written apology. On Penn letterhead. In 10
business days.”
“Even that provision made it into the agreement,” said McMahon.
In a statement to the community, UPenn confirmed it agreed to these
terms, reiterating that it believes it has always followed Title IX
regulations under NCAA guidelines.
On its athletics website, Thomas’ swimming records set for UPenn are
now a in Penn Women’s Swimming. CNN has reached out to Thomas for
comment.
On Wednesday morning, a White House official confirmed to CNN it had
restored the $175 million in frozen funding.
An “overdue step” or a “surrender”?
By Wednesday afternoon, the agreement had been trumpeted as a major
victory for President Trump.
“About dang time,” wrote former UPenn swimmer Paula Scanlan ,
adding in another post, “I got what I voted for!”
“A long overdue step in the right direction,” Republican
Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick.
“Fantastic news,” posted Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
But criticism spilled out as well.
“By following a path of political expediency at the expense of trans
athletes, Penn makes all trans students, faculty, staff, and community
members less safe, exposing them to renewed and emboldened harassment
and discriminatory treatment,” the UPenn chapter of the American
Association of University Professors.
“This move is not about equity,” wrote Pennsylvania State
Representative Rick Krajewski and Philadelphia City Councilmembers
Jamie Gauthier and Rue Landau in a joint statement calling the deal a
“surrender.”
“It is about appeasing the Trump administration.”
McMahon applauded UPenn’s decision to comply, adding Tuesday, “We
advise every institution that is currently violating women’s rights
under Title IX to follow suit — not just in college sports, but in
K-12 and every other institution covered by Title IX.”
CNN’s Betsy Klein and Amanda Musa contributed to this report.
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