Latest news with #TitleIX


USA Today
2 hours ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Lia Thomas, Title IX and $175M: Why Penn struck a deal with Trump
Because of the agreement, the Trump administration will lift a freeze on millions in federal funding for the school, Education Department spokeswoman Madison Biedermann said. "TRUMP ADMIN BRINGS UPENN TO ITS KNEES." That was the chyron across the screen on Fox News on July 1, as conservative host Laura Ingraham clapped for Education Secretary Linda McMahon and anti-transgender activist Riley Gaines. More: Reaction mixed at UPenn to transgender swimmer Lia Thomas' records being rescinded The trio was celebrating a controversial announcement made by the Education Department earlier in the day: The University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League school in Philadelphia, agreed to work with the federal government to resolve an investigation into its campus. As part of the deal, the university sent apology letters to female swimmers who competed alongside Lia Thomas, a transgender former student who won a national title while competing for the school in 2022. Read more: Lia Thomas records erasure illustrates NCAA transgender policy change In 2022, trans rights advocates celebrated the moment as historic. Many conservatives have since criticized Thomas' win, arguing she had an unfair competitive advantage. Penn also said this week it would bar trans athletes from participating in women's sports. That change had no immediate effect, though, since Penn no longer has any athletes who are trans women. Following an order by President Donald Trump that such participation was illegal, no university in the National Collegiate Athletic Association has allowed student-athletes who aren't assigned female at birth to compete in women's sports. Read more: NCAA updates transgender athlete participation policy after Trump executive order In exchange for Penn's concessions, the Trump administration took a step it has rarely taken since the government began targeting elite colleges: It lifted a pause on a multimillion-dollar chunk of Penn's federal funding, which had been frozen for months. Some condemned the accord as another political assault on higher education. Others hailed it as a win for female athletes. Trump v. higher ed: University of Virginia president to step down after pressure from DOJ The education secretary seemed to view it as a blueprint for colleges that decide that working with the Trump administration is in their best interest. "We hope that that agreement is going to be a template for other universities who acknowledge that there is no room for men in women's sports," she said on Fox. March: $175 million frozen In March, the federal government suspended roughly $175 million in contracts to Penn, alleging the university had violated Title IX, the primary law governing sex discrimination at schools, when it allowed Thomas to compete. It wasn't long before professors started receiving stop-work orders on a wide array of projects. Research on preventing hospital-acquired infections, drug screening for deadly viruses and protecting against chemical warfare ground to a halt, the university said at the time. The effects were immediately harmful, said J. Larry Jameson, Penn's president. "Federal funding freezes and cancellations jeopardize lifesaving and life-improving research, the loss of which will be felt by society and individuals far beyond our campus for years to come," he said in a public statement on March 25. That funding will now start flowing again, according to Madison Biedermann, an Education Department spokeswoman. In a new statement on July 1, the university's president called the issue "complex" and said he was glad to have reached a resolution with the government. "Our commitment to ensuring a respectful and welcoming environment for all of our students is unwavering," he said. "At the same time, we must comply with federal requirements, including executive orders, and NCAA eligibility rules, so our teams and student-athletes may engage in competitive intercollegiate sports." 'Negotiation' or 'extortion'? Some higher education leaders criticized Penn's agreement as unnecessary capitulation. Todd Wolfson, president of the American Association of University Professors, called it "negotiation in the face of extortion." What Penn did sent a harmful message to trans students on campus, he said. "At a meta level, universities can't sell out trans people to satisfy the ideological demands of a thug," he said. Amanda Shanor, an associate professor at the Wharton School, said students have been divided over whether Penn's decision was the right one. The day after the announcement, she felt a sense of "sadness and rage" among faculty like herself. "Are they going to leave Penn alone after this?" she said. "I don't know." Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@ Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @


USA Today
2 hours ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Penn caves to Trump administration, puts all women at risk by erasing Lia Thomas
There will come a time, when sanity and civility are restored and science is once again respected, when we will look back on this period in shame. Future generations will ask how we responded to blatant wrongdoing and acts of cruelty, whether we had the courage to stand up for what's right or caved out of naked self-interest. The leaders at Penn answered that question definitely on Tuesday. They might think their willingness to sacrifice swimmer Lia Thomas will protect them from President Donald Trump's wrath, but they will soon learn that appeasement never works. Not with this administration or any other that has tried to impose its unlawful will. Worse, by punishing a young woman who hasn't been a student for three years and banning the transgender athletes the NCAA already doesn't allow to compete, Penn put all women at risk by sanctioning the weaponization of Title IX. 'I remain dedicated to preserving and advancing the University's vital and enduring mission,' Penn president J. Larry Jameson said in a statement. 'We have now brought to a close an investigation that, if unresolved, could have had significant and lasting implications for the University of Pennsylvania.' Translation: The Trump administration was going to go after us just like it did Columbia and Harvard, and we have neither the money nor the spine to fight that. As if erasing Thomas' school records isn't enough, Jameson also said Penn would apologize to those who swam against her. No word on whether Penn is making participation trophies for them, too. Penn's actions and its promise it will adhere to "definitions of sex – with respect to women's athletics – that have been set out through two specific Executive Orders," is akin to trying to rename the Gulf of Mexico. Doing so does not, will not, change basic facts. Lia Thomas is still a person who swam competitively at Penn. Her best times were a 47.37 in the 100 free; a 1:41.93 in the 200 free; a 4:33.24 in the 500 free; a 9:35.96 in the 1,000 free; and a 15:59.71 in the 1,650 free. There still has yet to be a study showing transgender women athletes — not cisgender men, transgender women — have a competitive advantage over cisgender women athletes. There still is not a pack of transgender women crowding cisgender women out of sport. What was it NCAA president Charlie Baker told Congress last year? Oh right. That there are "less than 10" transgender men and women out of the half-million-plus NCAA athletes. This is about ignorance and fear and hate. And cowardice. When Title IX was passed 53 years ago, it opened the doors to gymnasiums and playing fields for girls and women. It also took a sledgehammer to the misogynistic stereotypes of how a woman was supposed to look and act. Playing sports helped free us to be the people we knew ourselves to be, not what others expected us to be. By kowtowing to the Trump administration, Penn puts that at risk. Today it's transgender women. What happens if tomorrow it's athletes with Black or brown skin? Or who have hair that's too short or muscles that are too big? Or whose parents are immigrants? Will Penn say that's a bridge too far? Or will it throw those women under the bus, too? I think I know the answer. Much is made out of public opinion polls showing the majority of Americans favor bans on transgender athletes. But go back and see what the country thought of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement in the early 1960s. Or gay marriage in the early 2000s. Attitudes evolve, opinions change and discrimination that was once deemed acceptable is eventually seen for the small-mindedness that it is. Lia Thomas did nothing wrong. There is nothing wrong with her. What's wrong is the shameful way we are treating people who simply want to be their true selves, and someday we will all be asked to answer for that. Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.


Fox News
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Fox News
Fox News Sports Huddle Newsletter: UPenn reaches agreement with Trump admin, Lia Thomas' records revoked
SWIFT ACTION – As part of a resolution agreement reached with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights stemming from a probe into the inclusion of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, the University of Pennsylvania will restore titles and records to those female athletes that were "misappropriated by male athletes allowed to compete in female categories." Continue reading… 'NO REGRETS' – OutKick host Riley Gaines and ex-ESPN host Keith Olbermann clashed after the University of Pennsylvania revoked Lia Thomas' program records following a resolution agreement with the Education Department. Continue reading… CHIMING IN – U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon weighed in on the resolution agreement that was reached between the department she currently leads and UPenn following an investigation into Title IX violations. Continue reading… BANNED – An Arizona Diamondbacks season-ticket holder was barred from attending future games at Chase Field after the MLB club cited "multiple offenses" the fan committed during games, including interfering with a fly ball during a recent contest against the San Francisco Giants. Continue reading… 'SICK' – Caitlin Clark had a strong reaction to her team, the Indiana Fever, winning the Commissioner's Cup. The Cup is the WNBA's in-season tournament. Continue reading… HALFTIME HEARTBREAK – Red Panda, the beloved performer known for her incredible unicycle routine during halftime shows, was forced to exit Tuesday's WNBA Commissioner's Cup final in a wheelchair after falling onto the court. Continue reading… SHOCKING UPSET – American tennis pro Jessica Pegula suffered a stunning and early exit from Wimbledon in the first round. The 116th-ranked Italian, Elisabetta Cocciaretto, defeated Pegula in less than an hour. Continue reading… WATCH NOW – The Los Angeles Lakers are coming off a disappointing NBA playoff run. The 2025-26 season will mark Luka Doncic's first full season with the Lakers. FOX Sports' Jason McIntyre weighs in on Doncic taking charge of the franchise. Watch here … FROM FOX SPORTS – The Bucks decided to waive star guard Damian Lillard. He is still owed $113 million and those payments are expected to be stretched over the next five years, per reports. Meanwhile, Myles Turner agreed to a four-year contract to join Milwaukee, according to The Associated Press. Continue reading… FROM OUTKICK – MLB star pitcher Paul Skenes was spotted with the Pittsburgh Pirates grounds crew at PNC Park well before first pitch of Tuesday's matchup with the St. Louis Cardinals. Continue reading… FOLLOW FOX NEWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA Fox News FirstFox News Opinion


Fox News
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Sec. McMahon responds to Newsom's office using WWE clip mock Title IX enforcement amid trans athlete feud
EXCLUSIVE: Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom's press office made a social media post mocking the latest announcement by the U.S. Department of Education that the state had violated Title IX by allowing trans athletes in women's sports. Newsom's press office X account mocked U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon with an old clip of her being body-slammed during a WWE skit. The clip was of current Knox County Mayor Glenn Thomas Jacobs, also known as "Kane," hitting McMahon with move known as the "tombstone piledriver" during an episode of "Monday Night Raw" in the early 2000s. The post incited mass backlash by Californians and women's rights activists across the nation. Now McMahon has responded to the controversial social media post. "I think what that said is that Gavin Newsom doesn't really take this seriously at all. And I was surprised that that was the clip that he used," McMahon told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. "He was trying to be funny on a very serious matter. We have women who are training to compete in these sports who lose scholarship and sponsorship opportunities, who get injured, who are compelled to be in dressing rooms or their intimate spaces with men, and that is absolutely unfair." McMahon pointed out that her office also used a clip of Newsom, but a more recent one of the governor saying on his podcast that he believes letting trans athletes compete in women's and girls sports is "deeply unfair." "Here's what was so funny: We also put online the actual footage of Gavin Newsom saying it was unfair on his own podcast. So I had sent him a letter. I said, basically, 'Put your money where your mouth is, because you talk about how this is unfair, but you don't do anything to change,'" McMahon said. McMahon said in an appearance on "Fox & Friends" last Wednesday that California would be at risk of losing its federal funding for its K-12 schools if the requirements are not met. A press release by the U.S. Department of Education states that California's high school sports league, the CIF and the California Department of Education (CDE) have 10 days (from last Wednesday) to amend their policy or risk referral to the U.S. Department of Justice. Newsom's office responded to the Education Department's announcement later last Wednesday. "It wouldn't be a day ending in 'Y' without the Trump Administration threatening to defund California. Now Secretary McMahon is confusing government with her WrestleMania days — dramatic, fake, and completely divorced from reality. This won't stick," Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon told Fox News Digital. The Department of Education and other branches of President Donald Trump's administration are fighting the issue on multiple fronts, with an active lawsuit against the state of Maine for refusing to comply with Trump's mandate on the issue. The administration is also in a standoff with Minnesota over the issue. McMahon, the DOE and the Trump administration as a whole took a big step forward in their campaign to combat trans athletes in women's and girls sports on Tuesday, announcing an agreement with the University of Pennsylvania. The agreement ensured UPenn apologizes to all women's swimmers who were affected by the inclusion of trans swimmer Lia Thomas in the 2021-22 season, all of Thomas' program accolades are rescinded, and the school will adopt biology-based definitions for the words "male" and "female." McMahon hopes UPenn's agreement sends a message to states that are defying Trump. "Our sincere hope is that they absolutely recognize what they're going to have to do relative to comply with Title IX. It is the law," McMahon said. "There are federal funds that have been withheld and withdrawn, so there's penalties involved in this. But it's actually just the right thing to do. It's common sense to do, that men should not compete in women's sports." Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Miami Herald
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Bills No. 1 pick Maxwell Hairston named in lawsuit
Buffalo Bills cornerback Maxwell Hairston is being sued by a woman who claims he sexually assaulted her in 2021 when he was an early enrollee at Kentucky. Hairston, 21, was the Bills' first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft in April, taken No. 30 overall. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. The unidentified woman also accuses Hairston of intentional infliction of emotional distress. She is seeking a jury trial and compensatory damages. According to the filing, which was reviewed by USA Today, the woman alleges that Hairston unexpectedly showed up at her dorm room on March 24, 2021. He told her he wanted to 'hang out' with her, and the woman said she was tired and didn't want a visitor. She said she was going to bed and walked away from the door. Per USA Today, the woman claims in the lawsuit that Hairston followed her into her bedroom, then forced himself upon her and sexually assaulted her after she rejected his requests to have sex. 'Our client showed remarkable strength in coming forward, and we are proud to stand with her in pursuit of accountability and justice,' said Peter Flowers, one of the women's attorneys, according to the report. 'No one -- regardless of their status or athletic success -- is above the law.' Before the draft, the Bills were aware of the allegations made by the woman, who had filed a report with the university. 'He's an impeccable kid. We did a lot of research,' general manager Brandon Beane said the day after the draft. 'I think all teams were aware of the Title IX thing. That was fully investigated by the school. He even volunteered to do a polygraph and had notes. It was one of those where there was zero information saying that this actually happened, to what the accusation was. 'You can't just take someone's account and think that's the truth. But yes, we fully investigated that. If there was anything to that, he wouldn't have been invited to the combine. ... Every person you talk to at Kentucky, teammates, staff there, plus what we've done, I would say this is a heck of a young man, every person you ask. That's unfortunate when things like that are attached to someone's name; in this case, it doesn't seem to be anything there.' --Field Level Media Field Level Media 2025 - All Rights Reserved