It’s official: The Department of Education (DOE) announced Monday that the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) violated Title IX.

After years of controversy, UPenn is facing the consequences of its actions — namely, allowing biological men to compete against women and enter their private spaces. UPenn is most widely recognized as the birthplace for the drama surrounding transgender-identifying swimmer “Lia” Thomas — a biological man who dominated his female counterparts almost immediately upon entering their division.

Under the Biden administration, this transgender intrusion in sports and other sectors of life was both allowed and promoted. President Donald Trump, however, made it clear during his presidential campaign that he would not tolerate it.

Shortly after the start of his second term, he signed the executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” For any school that would not adhere to the order’s demands, Trump warned they would lose federal funding. UPenn, like other schools, learned the hard way that the president was not offering mere lip service.

In fact, in March, the Trump administration froze $175 million in federal funds from flowing to the school. And now, with the official ruling from DOE, the threat still looms. In a stark warning, Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor released this statement:

“Little girls who look up to Riley Gaines and Paula Scanlan can find hope in today’s action — the Trump Administration will not allow male athletes to invade female private spaces or compete in female categories. UPenn has a choice to make: do the right thing for its female students and come into full compliance with Title IX immediately or continue to advance an extremist political project that violates federal antidiscrimination law and puts UPenn’s federal funding at risk.”

As The Post Millennial reported, “The Office for Civil Rights issued the school a proposed Resolution Agreement to resolve the violations, which the school has 10 days to resolve or risk a referral to the Department of Justice.” As part of clearing the violation, DOE demanded that the university restore all achievements, titles, records, and other such awards to the biological female athletes who lost to biological men. Additionally, the school must “send a letter to each female athlete whose individual recognition is restored expressing an apology on behalf of the University for allowing her educational experience in athletics to be marred by sex discrimination.”

While DOE waits for UPenn to follow orders, former swimmers who competed on Thomas’s team have been reacting to this development. Paula Scanlan, for instance, said, “I was excited to hear that the Department of Education is cracking down on the University of Pennsylvania.” However, she added, “I’m skeptical that my alma mater will take meaningful action. They have had years to address this issue and apologize to the female athletes affected, yet they have chosen not to.”

Scanlan continued: “I have been waiting for them to apologize to me for YEARS now, but I am still doubtful I will ever get one. I am grateful to this administration for taking the steps to hold UPenn accountable and, overall, this is a win for female athletes around the country.”

Another former UPenn women’s swimmer, Grace Estabrook, shared with Fox News, “I am grateful to this administration for their leadership on these matters, and I hope to see accountability soon for everyone who stood by while male athletes deprived us female athletes of our opportunities and violated our rights in our locker room.” She added she’s also grateful that UPenn was officially found to have violated Title IX.

“The government’s finding of sex discrimination by Penn is an important first step,” she noted, “but the protection of female athletes cannot stop here. Women must be protected by a bulletproof policy that completely removes men from our sports and from entering our locker rooms. Future generations of girls and women must be safeguarded against the hideous emotional and sexual harassment that my teammates and I endured at Penn.” According to Estabrook, the current policy that both UPenn and the NCAA are trying to adopt could be used to “cover their tracks” and still “leave women vulnerable.”

“I and my teammates who are suing Penn, Harvard, the Ivy League, and the NCAA, will not be appeased by half measures that fail to fully protect women,” Estabrook concluded.