Who is Lia Thomas? UPenn agrees to erase swimmer's records, bans trans athletes in deal with Trump administration

In a major update, the University of Pennsylvania has entered into a formal resolution agreement with the Trump administration's Department of Education to ban transgender women from participating in women's sports, as per announcements made on July 1. Recently, Lia Thomas, a transgender woman, was allowed to compete on the women's swim team, after which the step was taken.

The agreement move comes as part of a federal civil rights investigation that found UPenn violated Title IX, the federal law that restricts sex-based discrimination in educational settings, after allowing Lia Thomas's case.

The Department of Education started its investigation on February 6 and determined by April that the university had violated Title IX by permitting Thomas to participate in women's competitions.



Lia Thomas is a former Penn swimmer who grabbed national attention during the 2021 and 2022 NCAA season when she became the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I national title.

Earlier to this, Thomas had competed in the men's swimming category before transitioning and joining the women's team. Her victories have ignited a national debate, with critics claiming that her participation created an unfair disadvantage for athletes who are biologically female.


Meanwhile, in the current situation, in response, the university has now committed to implementing a broad range of reforms detailed in the resolution.

Agreement rules include:

• Restore Division I swimming records, titles, and honours to the female athletes who lost them due to Thomas’s involvement.
• Issue individual apology letters to every swimmer impacted.
• Prohibit biologically male athletes from participating in women’s sports programmes and from accessing facilities designated for female athletes, such as locker rooms.
• Publicly mention that it will comply with Title IX using 'biology-based' definitions of male and female.

Prior consent guidance and removing public-facing policies that supported the inclusion of transgender women in the women's category.


Despite the University of Pennsylvania restoring the records and issuing apologies to athletes affected by Lia Thomas's participation, the matter remains unclear as to whether Thomas will have to lose all her medals, titles, or NCAA honours.

Moreover, the agreement does not specifically call for the removal of her personal awards, leaving her official status uncertain for now.