The University of Pennsylvania has lost $175 million in federal funding because of the school's transgender student-athlete policy and a former transgender student-athlete on the women's swim team. The White House announced Wednesday that funding taken from UPenn is not from the Department of Education, which is still investigating the school.
According to the Boston Herald, “The money that was paused came from the Defense Department and the Department of Health and Human Services.” And a federal official told the Daily Pennsylvanian that the funding freeze “was not a result of an ongoing Title IX investigation into Penn but rather [an] immediate proactive action to review discretionary funding streams to … universities.”
Ron Ozio, a spokesperson for UPenn told the Boston Herald that the school did not receive any notification of the action or additional details. “It is important to note, however, that Penn has always followed NCAA and Ivy League policies regarding student participation on athletic teams. We have been in the past, and remain today, in full compliance with the regulations that apply to not only Penn, but all of our NCAA and Ivy League peer institutions.”
The DOE is investigating a civil rights violation at UPenn based around the school’s swimmer, Lia Thomas, who won a national title in 2022. That investigation began on Feb. 6, just one day after President Trump signed an executive order banning transgender women from sports. The White House tweeted on Wednesday, indicting UPenn’s transgender athlete “policies forcing women to compete with men in sports.”
Long-time women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines, who competed against Thomas at the 2022 NCAA championships, also took to X to celebrate the announcement from the Trump administration.
However, lawmakers in Pennsylvania were quick to oppose the funding cut to UPenn. Rep. Rick Krajewski released a statement that said he was “’proud of [his] alma mater for protecting the rights of its trans athletes’ and urged the University ‘to resist this bullying attempt.’”
Now, UPenn employees face the threat of losing jobs, halting research projects and more in the face of the massive funding cut.
