WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� The University of Pennsylvania says it will update records set by transgender swimmer and apologize to female athletes 鈥渄isadvantaged鈥� by Thomas鈥� participation on the women鈥檚 swimming team, part of a resolution of a federal .
The U.S. Education Department and Penn announced the voluntary agreement Tuesday. The case focused on Thomas, the transgender swimmer who last competed for the Ivy League school in Philadelphia in 2022, when she became the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I title.
The department investigated Penn as part of the Trump administration鈥檚 broader attempt to remove transgender athletes from girls鈥� and women鈥檚 sports, finding the college violated the rights of female athletes.
Under the agreement, Penn agreed to restore all individual Division I swimming records and titles to female athletes who lost out to Thomas and send a personalized apology letter to each of those swimmers, the Education Department said.
On Tuesday afternoon, the showed other athletes holding the school's top times in Thomas' freestyle events. The site was annotated with a note that read, 鈥淐ompeting under eligibility rules in effect at the time, Lia Thomas set program records in the 100, 200 and 500 freestyle during the 2021-22 season.鈥�
鈥淲hile Penn鈥檚 policies during the 2021-2022 swim season were in accordance with NCAA eligibility rules at the time, we acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules,鈥� Penn President J. Larry Jameson said in a statement. 鈥淲e recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time.鈥�
As part of the settlement, the university must also announce that it 鈥渨ill not allow males to compete in female athletic programs鈥� and it must adopt 鈥渂iology-based鈥� definitions of male and female, the department said.
In his statement, Jameson said Penn has always been in compliance with NCAA and Title IX rules as they were interpreted at the time, and that the university has never had its own policies around transgender athlete participation. The school has followed changes to eligibility guidelines as they were issued earlier this year, he said. The NCAA changed its participation policy for in February, limiting competition in women鈥檚 sports to athletes who were assigned female at birth.
鈥淥ur commitment to ensuring a respectful and welcoming environment for all of our students is unwavering,鈥� Jameson said. 鈥淎t 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.鈥�
Education Secretary Linda McMahon called it a victory for women and girls.
鈥淭he Department commends UPenn for rectifying its past harms against women and girls, and we will continue to fight relentlessly to restore Title IX鈥檚 proper application and enforce it to the fullest extent of the law,鈥� McMahon said in a statement.
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鈥檚 federal funding.
In February, the Education Department asked the NCAA and the National Federation of State High School Associations, or NFSHSA, to restore titles, awards and records it says have been 鈥渕isappropriated by biological males competing in female categories.鈥�
The most obvious target at the college level was in women鈥檚 swimming, where Thomas won the national title in the 500-yard freestyle in 2022.
The NCAA has updated its record books when recruiting and other violations have stripped titles from certain schools, but the organization, like the NFSHSA, has not responded to the federal government's request. Determining which events had a transgender athlete participating years later would be challenging.
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Associated Press writers Annie Ma and Dan Gelston contributed. Gelston contributed from Philadelphia. ___
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Collin Binkley, The Associated Press
