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The University of Pennsylvania accepted a decision with President Donald Trump’s administration to keep men out of women’s sports and apologize to any woman swimming who was influenced by the presence of Trans Athlet Lia Thomas in the 2021-22 season.
However, a lawsuit against the university of three former women’s swimmers over their experience of sharing a team with Thomas is still active.
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Previous Upenn -Swimming Grace Estabrook (Courtesy of Grace Estabrook)
Forms Upenn Swimmers Grace Estabrook, Margot Kaczorowski and Ellen Holmquist Filed Their Lawsuit Against The University, Harvard University, The NCAA and The Ivy League Back on Feb. 5. The Suit Alleges University Officials Led Them to Feel Their Concerns Over Being Teams with Thomas Were Rooted In A “Psychology Problem,” And That By Allowing Thomas To Compete, The Institutions “Injured Them and Violated Federal Law.”
The activist group is funding the trial, the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (Icons), released a statement on Tuesday relating to UPENN’s decision.
“In less than three weeks, lawyers for the University of Pennsylvania will appear in the federal court in Boston, Massachusetts. They have informed the court that they would argue that the university did not violate title IX by giving Lia Thomas the opportunity to compete for the women’s swimming team,” the statement claimed.
“Will Upenn now admit to the federal judge – just as they did with the Trump administration today – that they violated title IX? Or will they continue to fight against accountability and against Upenn’s female swimmers in court?”
Meanwhile, former Upenn swimmer Paula Scanlan, who is not part of the trial, shared one of the first of Thomas’ teammates to speak against the situation, the e email she received from the university apologized.
Icons added in his statement that Tuesday’s message should serve as a warning to other institutions.
“We, together with the female athletes we represent, are grateful to the Trump administration and the Department of Education for their commitment to restore justice in women’s sports. Today’s announcement of one of the most notorious violations of title IX sends a clear message to all educational institutions: denying women’s equality and the right to privacy is unusably wrong,”
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“Icons remain dedicated to keeping organizations such as NCAA, Ivy League and University of Pennsylvania responsible, ensuring that legal precedents are set so that such violations can never happen again.”
Pakinomist Digital has reached Upenn for a response to the ICON declaration.
Thomas, a biological man, previously competed for Upenn men’s swimming team from 2017-20 under the name, Thomas. According to the trial, Thomas was introduced by women’s swimming head coach Mike Schnur to the women’s swimmers during a team meeting in the fall of 2019 as their incoming teammate.
Each of the three plaintiffs claims that the experience left them “repeatedly emotionally traumatized.”
The applicants claim that the university administrators pushed pro-trans ideology on them throughout the process of accepting Thomas on the team and in their dressing room. The former swimmers say they were led to feeling that their concern about being teammates with Thomas was rooted in a “psychological problem.”
“The Upenn administrators told the women that if anyone struggled to accept Thomas’ participation in Upenn Women’s team, they should seek advice and support from Caps and LBGTQ Center,” the trial claims.
“The administrators also invited the women to a speech entitled ‘Trans 101.’ Thus, the women were led to understanding that Upenn’s attitude was that if a woman on the team had some problem with a transidentifying man who was on his team that the woman had a psychological problem and needed advice.
The applicants also claim that the administrators warned them against speaking against the situation in public.
“The Upenn administrators continued to tell the women that if the women talked publicly about their concerns about Thomas ‘participation in the women’s content, the reputation of those complaining about Thomas would be on the team, be occupied with transphobia for the rest of their lives and they would probably never be able to get a job,'” claims the trial.
The three female swimmers claim to think they would be removed from the team if they tried to protest on Thomas’ participation ahead of the 2022 Ivy League championship.
“Upenn swim team members were told by Coach Schnur and Upenn administrators that UPENN administrators coordinated closely with NCAA and Ivy League to make sure Thomas would be eligible for the Women’s Season 2021-2022,” claimed the suit.
“These statements about close coordination between Upenn, Ivy League and NCAA regarding Thomas ‘eligibility led to Upenn -Wresters’ Members of Understanding the Resistance or protesting the participation of Thomas on the team or his presence in the dressing room would be meaningless and could result in women being removed from the team or from Upenn.”
The trial claims that coaches and Upenn administrators told the women’s swimmers not to talk about Thomas’ situation. Schnur allegedly told the women’s swimmers that Thomas would not share a dressing room with them when they asked for the first introduction.
But that allegedly changed later.
Thomas officially began to practice and compete with women’s swimmers in the fall of 2021.
And that was when the female swimmers say they discovered that Schnur’s alleged claim that Thomas would not share a dressing room was not true.
“When Upenn’s woman’s swimmers returned to school in the fall of 2021, they were shocked to discover that Thomas was allowed to use the woman’s dressing room in Upenn and would be allowed to use the woman’s closet at swimming meetings,” the trial claims.
“Margot [Kaczorowski] only learned that Thomas had been authorized by Upenn to use the women’s dressing room when [Kaczorowski] Went in the woman’s dressing room to find Thomas in front of her and changed her clothes. “
Paula Scanlan shares her story as a swimmer at Upenn, who competes against teammate Lia Thomas, the first trans-core D-1 athlete to win a title. The Take Back title IX Bus Tour made its first stop in Scranton, Pennsylvania, who gathered against the participation of trans athletes in women’s sports. (Aimee Dilger)
According to the suit, Kaczorowski confronted Schnur in tears about her shock to discover that Thomas would now share a dressing room with her. She claims the coach replied by saying, “I know it’s wrong, but there’s nothing I can do.”
“Coach Schnur told the plaintiffs he would be fired by Upenn if he didn’t let Thomas use the women’s dressing room and compete for the women’s swimming team,” the trial claims.
In December 2021, another team meeting was held to discuss Thomas’ presence on the team and the media attention, it collected, according to the court documents. The female swimmers claim that they were told that Thomas would continue to be on their team and that “Lia’s swimming is a non-negotiation.”
Upenn processed the decision with Trump’s administration in a statement Tuesday.
“The Department of Education OCR investigated the participation of a transking athlete on the women’s swim team three years ago, during the swimming season 2021 – 2022.
“Penn has always followed – and continues to follow – Section IX and NCAA’s current policy on transking athletes. NCAA -Aid eligibility rules changed in February 2025 with executive orders 14168 and 14201 and Penn will continue to comply with these new rules.
“Penn has never maintained its own policy on the participation of trans -transient athletes in inter -college -colleges. Nor do we maintain our own policies related to other NCAA rules. We comply with NCAA and Ivy League rules designed to ensure fair and transparent athletic competitions for all schools and participants.”
