The University of Pennsylvania violated federal civil rights law by allowing transgender swimmer Lia Thomas to compete on its women's team during the 2021-22 season and use the female facilities, the U.S. Department of Education said Monday.

The department has ordered Penn to "restore to all female athletes all individual athletic records, titles, honors, awards or similar recognition for Division I swimming competitions misappropriated by male athletes" or risk the loss of federal funding.

President Donald Trump's administration has already paused $175 million in funding to Penn because of Thomas' participation. The university had said it previously had not received any demands to get funding restored.

But it looks like that may have changed. In addition to restoring the records, the education department in its communication Monday listed two other requirements: the school must issue a statement to the Penn community that it will comply with Title IX and send a letter of apology to each swimmer whose record is restored "for allowing her educational experience in athletics to be marred by sex discrimination."

Thomas' participation on Penn's team drew national attention and stirred debate over trans athletes' right to play sports. Thomas became an Ivy League champion and broke records at the women's swimming and diving championships held at Harvard University in February 2022. (Because Thomas' performances include Ivy League meet records and national championship titles, it's not clear that Penn could act to remove them. The department didn't immediately respond to a request for clarification.)

Penn has 10 days to comply or "risk a referral to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for enforcement proceedings," the department said.

Penn did not immediately reply for comment. The university has maintained that it was in full compliance with all National Collegiate Athletic Association rules and eligibility at the time, which allowed Thomas to compete, and that it remains in compliance.

The NCAA earlier this year in response to a Trump executive order banned transgender athletes in women's sports, and the university has said it will follow that guidance.

Three former Penn swimmers have since filed a lawsuit against the university for allowing Thomas to compete. It asserted that allowing Thomas to swim "deprived" the swimmers of "equal opportunities as women to compete and win."

In a response to that lawsuit, Penn maintained that it followed the law, policies, and guidance at that time.

"Excluding Thomas from the women's swim team would have subjected Penn to liability for having engaged in disparate treatment on the basis of sex in violation of Title IX," the university said.

But now the federal education department is under Trump, who campaigned on a promise to ban transgender athletes from women's sports.

"Little girls who look up to Riley Gaines and Paula Scanlan can find hope in today's action — the Trump Administration will not allow male athletes to invade female private spaces or compete in female categories," Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a statement, referencing two swimmers who competed alongside Thomas.

Scanlan competed on the Penn team and wrote on X, formerly Twitter, "this is what I voted for" when the federal government paused funding to Penn because of Thomas' participation. On Monday, she wrote on X again: "So it my alma matter finally going to issue me an apology or are they just going to pretend like this didn't happen?"

Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer, was among a group of swimmers who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA last year, accusing it of violating their rights by allowing Thomas to compete at the national championships.

"UPenn has a choice to make: do the right thing for its female students and come into full compliance with Title IX immediately or continue to advance an extremist political project that violates federal antidiscrimination law and puts UPenn's federal funding at risk," Trainor said.

The Trump administration's demands come as Penn is under increasing pressure to stand up and defend itself against orders from the federal government. The pressure follows Harvard's decision earlier this month to refuse to follow Trump's demands about the private university's disciplinary, admissions, and hiring policies; in response, the administration has halted more than $2 billion of its federal funding. Harvard has since sued.

Last week, 600 Penn faculty signed a letter urging Penn to sue to get its funding restored and resist the Trump administration's demands on higher education, according to The Daily Pennsylvanian.

"Stand publicly with fellow universities against unlawful demands that threaten academic freedom and university self-governance," they wrote. "Now is the time to act together with other universities, before it is too late."

Also last month, a group of more than 1,100 people at Penn, in a letter to Penn President J. Larry Jameson, called on the university "to act to uphold research, sanctuary, DEIA, nondiscrimination, and the rights of all members of our community."

Jameson last week joined more than 250 college presidents and other higher education leaders around the country who penned a statement critical of "undue government intrusion" into their operations.

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