The administration of President Donald Trump paused $175 million in federal funds for the University of Pennsylvania over its policy of letting men compete in women’s sports leagues.
Three former teammates of Lia Thomas, a man who claims to be a woman and who competed on the Ivy League school’s female swim team in recent years, issued a statement on Wednesday praising the move.
“We are so glad that Universities are beginning to see that there is a cost to openly harming female students on their campuses and we hope the pressure only increases,” Grace Estabrook, Margot Kaczorowski, and Ellen Holmquist told Fox News in a joint statement with the Independent Council for Women’s Sports.
“Penn and other universities within the NCAA, under NCAA policy and their own rogue leadership, have violated federal law and hurt women,” the athletes added.
Estabrook, Kaczorowski, and Holmquist made note of the harms to which female athletes are subjected when they are forced to compete against men claiming to be women.
“They have knowingly stolen opportunities and awards from women, placed women in physical danger, and facilitated the sexual harassment of female student athletes,” the statement continued.
“Every woman on a college campus and under NCAA regulations should be assured of Title IX protections,” they added. “Institutions that disregard the well-being of women have to understand they don’t get to rewrite or ignore federal protections that women rely on.”
The pause of $175 million in funds comes after Trump signed an executive order against men competing in women’s sports, as noted by NBC News.
The order declared that the policy of the federal government is “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.”
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Penn, which is Trump’s alma mater, made headlines three years ago when Thomas won an NCAA swimming championship against female athletes.
In a statement, a Penn representative told Fox News that the school is aligned with both NCAA and Ivy League policies and that the institution has not been formally notified of the funding pause.
“We are aware of media reports suggesting a suspension of $175 million in federal funding to Penn, but have not yet received any official notification or any details,” the statement said.
“It is important to note, however, that Penn has always followed NCAA and Ivy League policies regarding student participation on athletic teams.
“We have been in the past, and remain today, in full compliance with the regulations that apply to not only Penn, but all of our NCAA and Ivy League peer institutions.”
Estabrook, meanwhile, offered her own separate statement to Fox News.
She made clear she was “grateful that the administration is recognizing federal violations and taking action, but we still need these institutions to be held fully accountable.”
“This means clear policy changes, the prior records, awards, and recognitions to go back to the women who deserve them, and the institutions who facilitated sexual harrassment and our suffering to be fully aware of the wrongs that they have done and the pain they have caused,” she said.
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