Michael Higgins: Total capitulation! UPenn forfeits gender ideology for Trump funding
Thomas went from a ranking of 554th in the 200 men's freestyle in the 2018-19 season to being one of the top-ranked female swimmers in that event.
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In 2022, Thomas won the women's 500 freestyle at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships, finished fifth in the women's 200 freestyle and eighth in the women's 100 freestyle.
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While the transgender athlete had supporters, there were also detractors who complained about Thomas competing as well as using the female locker rooms.
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Why is it always the women who have to suffer? The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is now investigating because a school in Denver converted a female restroom into an all-gender restroom. Boys, however, still get exclusive use of a male restroom.
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Under the Biden administration, academia could get away with such conduct. But the Trump administration was always going to be different.
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U.S. President Donald Trump has pledged to crack down on diversity, equity and inclusion policies and use Title IX (which prevents sex discrimination in education) to support women.
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It was Title IX that landed Penn university in trouble. The Education Department threatened to withhold $175 million in federal funds from the university unless it complied with the law.
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In a statement in March, Penn President Larry Jameson pledged, 'We expect to continue to engage with OCR, vigorously defending our position.'
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But he folded almost as fast as Prime Minister Mark Carney on the Digital Services Tax.
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This week, the university said it would comply with two executive orders from Trump. The first, Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government, decries 'efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex' because it deprives women 'of their dignity, safety, and well-being.'
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The second, Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports, states, 'It shall also be the policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women's sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.'
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In a statement, Jameson said the institution was only following the rules at that time, but would now, 'apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect.'
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It was a craven statement that sought to deflect responsibility to those damnable rules at the time. It's a pity Jameson didn't have the courage just to admit that what happened was wrong.
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18 minutes ago
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