NewsNation) — The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Board of Governors voted to change its policy on transgender athletes, restricting women’s sports to those athletes who were assigned female genders at birth.
The announcement comes one day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order designed to keep men from participating in women’s sports. The change also comes on the heels of three University of Pennsylvania swimmers suing the school and the NCAA, claiming their rights were violated after they were teammates with a transgender swimmer on UPenn’s women’s swimming team.
The updated participation policy allows college athletes who were assigned male genders at birth to practice with women’s teams and receive benefits such as medical care while practicing, the NCAA said in a statement. Men’s sports remain open to all eligible student-athletes. Under the new policy, schools are directed to foster welcoming environments on all of its campuses.
The NCAA is an organization made up of 1,100 colleges and universities in all 50 states that collectively enroll more than 530,000 student-athletes, the organization said.
“We strongly believe that clear, consistent, and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today’s student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a statement. “To that end, President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard.”
The lawsuit filed by the three former UPenn swimmers involved their former teammate, Lia Thomas, who won an NCAA championship in 2022 in the 500 freestyle while part of the school’s women’s team. Thomas was originally part of the school’s men’s swimming team before transitioning.
As part of Thursday’s NCAA policy change, the Board of Governors also directed NCAA staff to assist all of its member schools foster respectful and inclusive collegiate athletic cultures.