1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday explicitly barring transgender women from participating in women’s sports.
Notably signed on National Girls and Women in Sports Day, the executive order promises to “rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy.”
The order adds that the United States will begin to “oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.”
A request for comment was left with Penn Athletics.
The order cites Title IX, stating that any educational institutions receiving federal funds “cannot deny women an equal opportunity to participate in sports,” and cites previous court cases to claim that “ignoring fundamental biological truths between the two sexes deprives women and girls of meaningful access to educational facilities.”
It also calls for the assistant to the president for domestic policy to gather representatives of athletic organizations, governing bodies, and state attorneys general to “identify best practices in defining and enforcing equal opportunities for women to participate in sports and educate them about stories of women and girls who have been harmed by male participation in women’s sports.”
NCAA President Charlie Baker released a statement supporting the executive order on Feb. 5, saying "We strongly believe that clear, consistent, and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today's student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions. To that end, President Trump's order provides a clear, national standard."
"The Association will continue to help foster welcoming environments on campuses for all student-athletes. We stand ready to assist schools as they look for ways to support any student-athletes affected by changes in the policy," added Baker.
Trump has been a longtime supporter of banning transgender women from women’s sports. Most recently, Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20 establishing that the U.S. government will only recognize two sexes — male and female — advancing his agenda to prohibit biological males from women’s sports.
The U.S. House of Representatives also passed a separate bill explicitly prohibiting the participation of individuals who were assigned biologically male at birth in women’s sports programs.
The national controversy surrounding transgender women in women’s sports picked up after 2022 College graduate Lia Thomas competed with Penn's women’s swimming and diving team during the 2021-22 NCAA season.
During her first two years at Penn, Thomas was initially a member of Penn’s men’s swimming and diving program. After the 2020-21 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Thomas returned to competition as a member of the women’s team for the 2021-22 season.
Representing the women’s team, Thomas collected numerous accolades, including a win at the 2022 NCAA Division I Championship in the 500-yard freestyle, fifth place in the 200 freestyle, and three Ivy League individual titles.
Thomas did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
On Tuesday, three former Penn swimmers who competed with Thomas also filed a lawsuit against Penn, Harvard University, the NCAA, and the Ivy League, alleging that they violated Title IX by allowing Thomas to compete at the 2022 Ivy League Championships, which Harvard hosted.
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