How the NCAA Helped Trump Score Big on Transgender Issues
The University of Pennsylvania agreed to publicly affirm its commitment to barring transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports, the Education Department announced Tuesday, in a resolution with the Trump administration that will also require the school to modify a trio of records and apologize to several female competitors.
“While Penn’s 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,” Penn President J. Larry Jameson said in a statement. “We recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time.”
The agreement was born from the saga that began in 2021, when Lia Thomas, who identifies as a transgender woman, began competing on the women’s swimming team at Penn—ultimately setting three program records and clinching the NCAA Division 1 championship title for the 500-yard freestyle event. Thomas’ participation during the 2021-2022 season poured fuel on a present but somewhat nascent national conversation about whether it is ever fair for someone born a biological male, with the associated physical advantages, to compete in girls’ and women’s sports.
“Today’s resolution agreement with UPenn is yet another example of the Trump effect in action,” said Education Secretary Linda McMahon in a statement yesterday. It is, by pretty much every measure, a big victory for President Donald Trump and his administration. It didn’t have to be.
That’s because the NCAA—which in February reversed its policy allowing transgender women to compete in women’s sports—should never have set such a policy to begin with. Much of the blame here has fallen on Penn. That is misguided, at least in part, as the problem is far broader: Competing universities adhere to the eligibility requirements set by the NCAA, lest they risk inviting legal scrutiny. It was the NCAA’s policy that was unfair to female competitors. It was unfair to Thomas, who became a national villain for participating and a symbol of institutional rot in collegiate athletics. And it set the stage for the Trump administration to make a ve
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