The U.S. Department of Education is urging governing bodies for collegiate and high school athletics to change records, championships, awards and honors that it claims have been “misappropriated by biological males competing in female categories.”
In a letter sent on Tuesday to the NCAA and National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), the Department said correcting the records falls in line with the NCAA’s new policy to bar transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.
The NCAA changed its policy after President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week. The order gives federal agencies, including the Justice and Education departments, wide latitude to ensure universities and other entities that receive federal funding abide by Title IX in alignment with the Trump administration’s view, which interprets “sex” as the gender people are assigned at birth.
Because known instances of transgender participation in women’s sports are extremely rare, any changes to existing records and honors are likely to be minimal.
San Jose State might be an exception.
Since Trump signed last week’s order, his administration has called out the Spartans for allowing a transgender player on the women’s volleyball team.
San Jose State and the University of Pennsylvania were named by the Department of Education for inquiries over transgender athlete participation in women’s sports, alleging violations of the 1972 civil rights law known as Title IX that bars sex discrimination in education.
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Multiple teams forfeited matches last fall against the Spartans, including Boise State in the Mountain West Conference semifinals. San Jose State was beaten by Colorado State in the conference final.
As San Jose State became the subject of national news, university officials never acknowledged having a transgender athlete on the team because the player, a senior, never came out publicly.
After the Department of Education took aim at her university last week, San Jose State president Cynthia Teniente-Matson said in a statement that she is “committed to ensuring that all of our students, including our student-athletes, are treated fairly, free from discrimination, and afforded the rights and protections granted under federal and state law, including privacy rights.”
