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University of Pennsylvania officials have finally agreed to stop letting men invade women’s sports and private spaces, but they never would have caved were it not for the courage of Paula Scanlan, Riley Gaines, President Trump, and others who refused to be intimidated.
What a difference a little courage makes. That’s the real lesson from Tuesday’s announcement of an agreement between the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) and the Department of Education regarding UPenn’s blatant disregard for the safety, privacy, and equal opportunity of female athletes.
In case you missed it, here are the details of the resolution agreement:
This all began in 2021 when the university allowed male swimmer Will Thomas, who went by the name “Lia,” to start competing in the women’s division and use the women’s locker room and showers.
Thomas quickly obliterated school records and ultimately stole a national championship.
His invasion of women’s swimming and women’s private facilities prompted female swimmers like UPenn’s Paula Scanlan and former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines to speak up, which led to a public outcry over male inclusion in female sports.
President Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail to ban men from women’s sports and following his election did so through executive orders to protect women’s sports and to restore biological reality.
His administration launched an investigation into UPenn, paused $175 million in federal funding to the university and threatened to rescind all federal funds if the school refused to honor Title IX’s requirements to provide equal sex-segregated facilities and sports for men and women. Those actions forced UPenn to finally comply.
Scanlan praised the agreement in a statement, saying,
“As a former UPenn swimmer who had to compete against and share a locker room with a male athlete, I am deeply grateful to the Trump Administration for refusing to back down on protecting women and girls and restoring our rightful accolades. I am also pleased that my alma mater has finally agreed to take not only the lawful path, but the honorable one.”
She continued, “Today marks a momentous step in repairing the past mistreatment of female athletes, and forging a future where sex discrimination plays no role in limiting girls’ potential.”
While the move is certainly a cause for celebration, it is already evident that UPenn intends to only comply with the letter of the agreement rather than its spirit.
Scanlan released screenshots of an email sent out by the university’s President J. Larry Jameson announcing the agreement. As UPenn has consistently done, it denied any actual wrongdoing in forcing women to compete with and share a locker room with Thomas, claiming it was just following the NCAA’s orders.
Jameson had the audacity to claim that the school followed Title IX.
He also ended the email with a statement affirming the university’s commitment to fostering a community that is inclusive.
No contrition, no admission of guilt.
But as I discussed in my last article on UPenn, the school was far from just following orders. That write-up details how UPenn threatened the female swimmers and bullied them into silence. When Scanlan tried to speak out in the school’s newspaper, her article was removed.
And even UPenn’s supposed compliance with the agreement’s demands is in itself an act of defiance.
The school did update its list of women’s swimming and diving record holders to show the actual female record holders, but it added a note at the bottom that read, “Competing 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.”
Now let’s be clear: No one thought that UPenn was suddenly going to repent and contritely and sincerely apologize for its wrongdoing. We weren’t expecting they would really be sorry. This was always going to happen through threat of force.
But by any standard, that’s not complying with the agreement, and while I’m happy UPenn has been reprimanded, I think the Trump administration should deem their defiance a breach of their resolution agreement and withhold every cent of their federal funding until UPenn can issue a real statement admitting its guilt.
The dictates of Title IX are unmistakably clear. Whatever absurd guidance the Biden administration propagated was irrelevant, as courts across this country demonstrated. The text of Title IX requires equal-sex segregated spaces and opportunities for girls. Full stop. UPenn knew exactly what it was doing and got caught.
Regardless of whether the Trump administration takes any further action against UPenn, though, it has demonstrated a clear study in how we must deal with left-wing zealots going forward.
We tried persuading leftist institutions through many different means.
Scanlan and other women expressed the discomfort and anxiety they felt at being forced to change next to a naked male.
We pointed out the obvious physiological differences in men and women.
We pointed to extensive studies and data on the inherent advantages male athletes have over women, even if they take testosterone suppressants.
Many brave athletes protested, even refusing to compete against male athletes.
Many female athletes filed lawsuits outlining the real harms they faced, including lost roster spots, lost scholarships, stolen titles, and injuries.
It did not evoke one shred of awakening, contrition, or repentance from politicians and institutions who trampled on women’s rights.
This is not a debate between two valid theories on fairness in sports or policy.
The people in positions of power who refuse to protect women’s private spaces and opportunities are either afraid of the woke mob or they are idealogues.
Either way, they must be made to comply through force of law and through loss of funding.
That takes will, something we must demand from our political leaders.
But what takes an even greater will is to speak up against the woke machine, the powerful leftist institutions, when you are but one seemingly powerless individual.
Scanlan, Gaines, and others had that will. And if it weren’t for them, we probably would not be talking about this agreement today.
Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon held a press conference on Tuesday with Scanlan and Gaines. There she talked about the courage it takes to stand against the LGBT mob.
“For the awareness of others, let me be clear: Putting men in women’s intimate spaces is not safe or reasonable. Putting them up against women in physical competition against women is not fair.
America knows it’s not fair. Even Gavin Newsom, who has held himself out as the champion of the radical gender ideology movement, knows it’s not fair. But gender ideology and its extremist supporters have intimidated many people—who know better—into silence about that biological fact.
Today, we’re grateful that it did not keep Riley quiet. It did not keep Paula quiet. It did not keep parents or students across the country quiet. And it did not keep Donald Trump quiet.”
It took courage for Scanlan to go against her school and speak up, risking punishment and her spot on the team. It took courage for her to ask media outlets to publish her perspective, and it took courage for Outkick to run her original article. It took courage for her to speak before Congress.
It took courage for Riley Gaines to not take a “tie” with Will Thomas and move on. It took courage for her to stand up and become the face of the movement to protect women’s sports, enduring hate and slander from people around the globe.
Now their actions have helped create a movement for a brighter future for our youth.
What a difference a little courage — and four years — makes.
PHOTO: Paula Scanlan (left) and Riley Gaines (right) CREDIT: X screenshot
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