Agreement Requires Apology and Restoration of Records to Female Athletes Disadvantaged by Lia Thomas’ Participation

The University of Pennsylvania has reached a voluntary agreement with the U.S. Education Department to resolve a high-profile federal civil rights case focused on the participation of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas on the women’s swimming team. As part of the settlement, the university will take several actions to address the concerns raised by the department’s investigation.

Firstly, Penn will restore all individual Division I records and titles to female athletes who lost to Thomas during the 2021-2022 season. Additionally, the university will send a personalized apology letter to each of those swimmers, acknowledging that they were “disadvantaged” by the policies in effect at the time.

The Education Department’s investigation, which was part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to exclude transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports, concluded that Penn had violated Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education. As a result, the university has agreed to adopt “biology-based” definitions of male and female and will not allow males to compete in female athletic programs going forward.

In a statement, Penn President J. Larry Jameson recognized that some student-athletes experienced a “competitive disadvantage or anxiety” due to the policies that allowed Thomas to compete on the women’s team. Jameson said the university will apologize to those affected and emphasized that Penn has always complied with NCAA and Title IX rules as they were interpreted at the time.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon hailed the agreement as a victory for women and girls, stating that the department will continue to fight to ensure the proper application and enforcement of Title IX. The settlement comes after the department asked the NCAA and the National Federation of State High School Associations to restore titles, awards, and records that it believes have been “misappropriated by biological males competing in female categories.”

In a separate development, the University of North Carolina announced a succession plan for its athletic department. Bubba Cunningham, the current athletic director, will receive a two-year contract extension through 2029 and transition to a senior advisor role. Steve Newmark, the president of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, will join UNC as the executive associate athletic director next month and eventually succeed Cunningham as the athletic director in the summer of 2026.