The U.S. Department of Education is taking further action regarding the new transgender sports policy established during the Trump administration. On Tuesday, the department reached out to both the NCAA and a significant organization for high school sports, urging them to reinstate titles, awards, and records that it claims have been “misappropriated by biological males competing in female categories.”
A letter was sent by the office of general counsel to the National Federation of State High School Associations and the NCAA. According to a statement from the department, this request aligns with the NCAA’s recent policy adjustments. Following the signing of an executive order by President Donald Trump aimed at prohibiting transgender athletes from participating in women’s and girls’ sports, the NCAA modified its participation guidelines to allow only those designated as female at birth to compete in women’s categories.
At this time, there has been no response from the NCAA or the high school federation regarding inquiries for further comments. One of the most notable cases concerning the reallocation of titles at the collegiate level involves women’s swimming, particularly with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, who secured the national championship in the 500-yard freestyle event in 2022.
While the NCAA has the capacity to revise its record books as it has done with past recruiting violations, altering high school records would likely necessitate localized efforts from individual state high school associations throughout the United States.
Candice Jackson, the deputy general counsel at the Department of Education, stated, “The Trump Education Department will do everything in our power to right this wrong and champion the hard-earned accomplishments of past, current, and future female collegiate athletes.”
