The Department of Education is investigating two universities just one day after Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender athletes from participating on teams according to their gender identity.
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“The Department is taking swift action to investigate three entities for suspected Title IX violations: San Jose State University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association,” Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for the civil rights office, said in the press release.
On the last day of January, President Trump officially reverted Title IX regulations to the guidelines he made during his first term in office. The “Dear Colleague” letter wiped former President Joe Biden’s proposed regulations to expand protections against harassment or discrimination in K12 or higher education institutions to transgender students, among other directives.
The Department mentioned a specific case that they will be investigating at each school. A “male” athlete at San Jose State University participating on the women’s volleyball team directed “dangerous strikes” at opponents’ faces, and the university allegedly retaliated against an assistant coach for defending biological females in women’s sports, the Department’s announcement contends.
The women’s swimming and diving team at University of Pennsylvania allegedly offered its athletes “psychological services” to help them become more comfortable with a transgender woman sharing their locker room.
“As a former University of Pennsylvania swimmer who was forced to compete against and share a locker room with a male athlete, I look forward to them holding accountable the higher education institutions that promoted this,” said Paula Scanlan, a former competitor on the swim and diving team.
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