Trans swimmer Lia Thomas stripped of medals after Trump crackdown
The university will also have to issue formal apologies to every biological female competitor who lost out to a biological male, marking the end to a landmark legal battle.
The US Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) found UPenn violated Title IX by 'allowing a male to compete in female athletic programs and occupy female-only intimate facilities'.
The case focused on Lia Thomas, who last competed for the Ivy League school in Philadelphia in 2022, as the first transgender winner of an American collegiate title.
The move comes as part of the Trump administration's broader attempt to remove transgender athletes from girls' and women's sports.
Under the agreement, UPenn agreed to restore all individual Division I swimming records and titles to female athletes who lost out to Thomas, the Education Department said.
The University of Pennsylvania also agreed to send a personalised apology letter to each of those swimmers.
'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,' Linda McMahon, the education secretary, said.
The Education Department opened its investigation in February and concluded in April that Penn had violated Title IX, a 1972 law forbidding sex discrimination in education.
Such findings have almost always been resolved through voluntary agreements. If Penn had fought the finding, the department could have moved to refer the case to the Justice Department or pursued a separate process to cut the school's federal funding.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
20 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Staunch election denier appointed to Georgia county's board of elections
An Atlanta-area county has appointed a staunch election denier, with a history of challenging voter registrations, to the county's board of registration and elections, a pivotal position to cast doubt on the results of future elections. DeKalb county's Republican committee nominated Gail Lee and a second Republican activist, but the nomination of William Henderson was rejected last week by the chief judge of the DeKalb county superior court, Shondeana Morris, after a letter campaign against the two promoted by the county's Democratic committee and voting rights activists. Lee has challenged the registration of hundreds of voters in DeKalb County since the 2020 election, beginning her efforts after Donald Trump's narrow loss to Joe Biden in 2020. Lee told CBS News in December 2023 that she still believed Trump won, and attended a 2022 conference in Georgia hosted by the Election Integrity Network – a 2020 election denialist group linked to the Trump campaign. 'Putting a known election denier who has repeatedly tried to remove voters from the rolls on the DeKalb county elections board is a slap in the face to DeKalb voters,' Kristin Nabers, Georgia state director for the voting rights advocacy organization All Voting is Local, said in a statement. 'Lee is the architect of mass voter challenges against her neighbors in DeKalb county,' she added. 'Time and time again, she has attempted to strip Georgians of their right to vote and perpetuated a stream of lies about our elections and the hardworking officials who administer them. Those who repeatedly push lies about voting and support dangerous attempts to overturn the results should have no say over our elections.' Lee did not return a call and text seeking comment. About 370,000 of DeKalb county's 500,000 registered voters cast a ballot in the 2024 presidential election, and Kamala Harris won 82% of them, representing about one in eight votes she won in the state. The county's Republican and Democratic parties each nominate two people to serve on the county's elections board in four-year terms. The fifth member is named by the county's chief superior court judge. In a letter explaining her rejection of Henderson, Morris cited 'over 200 pieces of correspondence from the public' as well as his public statements and 'an ongoing lawsuit filed by Mr. Henderson against the board.' Henderson is also a prolific challenger of voter registrations in DeKalb county. In 2024, Henderson filed a lawsuit in superior court alleging the DeKalb county board of registration and elections violated the law by refusing to consider challenges to voters' eligibility within 90 days of the election. Morris cited the suit as a conflict creating an impediment to his appointment. 'I do not believe that appointing Mr. Henderson to the board would further the goals of ensuring that elections are credible and trustworthy in the eyes of the public,' Morris wrote. 'Rather, I am concerned that his appointment would do the opposite, as he has already sought to do through his public statements in the past.' Henderson disagreed with Morris's decision, describing his legal action as a writ of mandamus and not a lawsuit. Asked if he believed the 2020 election had been fairly conducted, Henderson said: 'The 2020 election happened five years ago and it's not anything that we should be concerned with right now.' He added that asking the question at all was indicative of bias. 'My whole reason for being involved in this is to try and make sure that our voter roll is accurate, concise, legal and clean,' Henderson said. He characterized the opposition to his nomination as 'manufactured' by Democrats and the League of Women Voters through a social media campaign. 'I don't think those 200 letters were relevant.'
The Independent
30 minutes ago
- The Independent
House members in mad scramble back to DC to vote on Trump's ‘Big Beautiful Bill' after heading home for July 4
Members of the House of Representatives from both parties were forced to return to Washington, D.C. to vote on President Donald Trump's ' One Big, Beautiful Bill ' after the Senate passed it, Politico reported. With Trump exerting great pressure on Speaker Mike Johnson to get the bill to his desk for a signing before the July 4 holiday, the House plans to vote on the bill as soon as possible. That triggered a mad dash back to the nation's capital and comes amid a Republican rift over the amended bill — which would force cuts to Medicaid and makes states shoulder more of the cost for food assistance while extending the 2017 tax cuts Trump signed. Republican Rep. Nancy Mace posted that she and her team would travel back from South Carolina by van. 'We have secured a van for a DC road trip tonight to make it in time for votes on BBB tomorrow,' Mace posted. Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who is running for Illinois' open Senate seat, hosted a Zoom town hall as he drove 14 hours to Washington after his flight was canceled. 'We made it,' he said. 'Drove overnight from IL to vote NO on this Large Lousy Law.' By coincidence, Rep. Derek Tran of California wound up stranded in the Pittsburgh airport, so he and fellow Democratic Rep. Chris DeLuzio of Pennsylvania drove to Washington and hosted a virtual town hall as well. Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin posted how his flight was canceled because of thunderstorms, so he would drive to Chicago to make an early flight to Washington. The bill passed the House of Representatives narrowly last month, partially due to the fact that three Democratic members of Congress had died. House Speaker Mike Johnson has scheduled a vote for the morning. The vote comes after the Senate conducted a marathon 27-hour vote-a-rama before passing the bill by a 51-50 margin with Vice President JD Vance breaking a tie in the Senate. Three Republicans--Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina--opposed the bill. But many House members have criticized the bill. During a House Rules Committee hearing, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, who criticized the bill last month but nonetheless voted for it, said the Senate 'failed' with the bill. Plenty of Republican members also fear the cuts to Medicaid could disproportionately hurt their constituents.
The Sun
40 minutes ago
- The Sun
Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest 2025: Date, start time, TV channel, live stream as Joey Chestnut RETURNS from exile
JOEY CHESTNUT is BACK from his ban to try and retake his crown as the world's best competitive eater. Jaws has won the coveted Mustard Yellow Belt a record 16 times but was not allowed to compete in 2024. 2 2 Chestnut was barred from entering the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest over an issue with a rival sponsor, Impossible Foods. The brand is not only a rival but is also a vegan company. Chestnut instead starred in the Netflix special 'Unfinished Beef' against long-time rival Takeru Kobayashi - ending their 15-year rivalry with a dominant win. In his absence, Patrick Bertoletti picked up the Nathan's crown, scoffing 58 hot dogs last year. But the reigning champ will have his work cut out to stop Chestnut from regaining his crown after he confirmed he would be back. There is also the women's contest to look forward to with Miki Sudo hoping to defend her crown. The 10-time winner managed 51 hot dogs in 2024. When is the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest 2025? As always, the contest will be held on July 4 - Independence Day - which is a Friday this year. The event will take place outside the original Nathan's location in Coney Island, New York. The schedule is as follows: Is the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest 2025 on TV and is there a live stream? ESPN has held the rights to the contest for almost 25 years and will be the broadcaster again this year. However, because of Wimbledon, the men's contest will be aired on ESPN2. The women's contest - as well as the cams on Chestnut and Sudo - will be on ESPN3. ESPN3 is NOT a traditional cable channel but a live stream that can be accessed via or the ESPN app. ESPN2 can also be accessed without a cable package via other paying platforms such as Fubo, YouTube TV or Hulu+. Alternatively, SunSport will live blog all the action from the men's and women's contests as they happen.
