On March 19, 2025, the US administration announced that it would freeze $175 million in federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) due to the university’s decision to allow transgender athletes to participate in women’s sports.
The US administration announced the freeze in a post on its account, @RapidResponse47, on the social media platform X. According to a senior White House official who spoke with media sources, the funding cut was directly related to UPenn’s decision to allow Lia Thomas, a transgender student, to compete on the women’s swimming team. The announcement of the funding freeze came a month after President Trump signed an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” which stated that it would cut federal funding for education institutions that allowed transgender individuals to compete in women’s sports teams. The US administration characterized the funding cut an “immediate proactive action.” In contrast with letters it sent to Columbia (see report) and Harvard (see report) universities, the notification to iUPenn did not include information on steps the university could take to avoid or reverse the suspension. Following the announcement of the funding freeze, the university administration ordered faculty at seven UPenn schools to cease federally-funded research that would be affected by the suspensions.
Scholars at Risk is concerned about formal state pressure on institutional autonomy and academic freedom, including threatened investigations, withholding or cancellation of research grants and contracts, and unilateral demands for external control over hiring, admissions, research and teaching content, and administration. While legislative and executive officials have a right to express their views about higher education communities and policies, they have a responsibility to refrain from using their offices to threaten, impose extra-legal sanctions, or otherwise dictate academic or operational decision-making. Formal state threats and pressures undermine university autonomy, academic freedom, and the university’s ability to contribute to democratic society generally.
Sources:
https://www.thedp.com/article/2025/03/penn-trump-freezes-federal-funding-transgender-participation-sports
https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/trump-university-of-pennsylvania-funding-cuts-transgender-athletes-ncaa/
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/politics-elections/2025/03/19/trump-admin-pauses-175m-university-pennsylvania
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/03/26/penn-pledges-address-175m-federal-funding-cut
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/20/nx-s1-5333675/university-pennsylvania-upenn-trump-suspends-funding-trans-student-athletes
https://whyy.org/articles/penn-federal-research-funding-stopped-trump/
https://www.inquirer.com/education/upenn-federal-government-funding-research-halted-payments-20250325.html
https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1902346386357572046