White House Punishes University of Pennsylvania Over Transgender Swimmer Lia Thomas
To the tune of $175 million. Plus, Philly gets a new PATCO station.
The Trump administration has paused $175 million in federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania over Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer. (Photo by Getty Images)
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The White House Is Unhappy With the University of Pennsylvania Over Transgender Swimmer Lia Thomas
They say that politicians don’t tend to make good on their promises. And while Donald Trump has certainly not made good on all of his promises — ya know, ending the war in Ukraine on day one, driving down the cost of living for the average American — there are other areas where he’s being mad efficient. Imagine deporting all those people, stomping all over human rights, renaming things on the globe, making efforts to seize a foreign country or two, and firing all kinds of important people, all within the first two months of your presidency. (Today’s your two-month anniversary, Mr. President!) Well, Trump also promised to crack down on the transgender community, including their presence in sports. And he’s not messing around.
The White House has announced that it is putting a pause on $175 million in federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania. (That’s about a fifth of the federal funding received by Penn.) Why? The school “allowed” transgender swimmer Lia Thomas to compete on its team. Thomas was the first openly transgender swimmer to win an NCAA Division I national championship.
Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas competing for the University of Pennsylvania (Getty Images)
“Promises made, promises kept,” is what a White House “rapid response” account on X had to say about the move. “This is just a taste of what could be coming down the pike for Penn,” a senior administration official told Fox Business News. The university is in danger of losing all of its federal funding over this and a variety of issues.
Ed. Note: A previous version of the this article misstated that Lia Thomas is currently on the swim team at the University of Pennsylvania.
So Much for the Nice Weather
As I write this at lunchtime on Thursday, I’m sitting at a table out in front of my house, enjoying the sun and temperates in the 60s. Alas, we’re not expected to hit the 60s one day in the next week. C’mon, spring!
The End of a Delco Era
Upper Darby native Tina Fey’s favorite pizza shop in these parts is closing.
By the Numbers
$0: What you’ll pay for a water ice at Rita’s today. It’s the first day of spring, which means free water ice. You will probably have to stand in a very, very long line to get it. In other wooder ice news, John’s is about to open in deep South Philly. Brain freeze, here we come!
$30 million: What was spent to resurrect PATCO’s Franklin Square station. It will reopen in April after sitting dormant for four decades. I give it two weeks until it picks up that familiar urine scent.
$3.975 million: What it will cost you to have this killer roof deck in Rittenhouse Square.
Local Talent
Why talk music with one of the world’s greatest pianists when you can talk about food?! That’s exactly what Inquirer arts writer Peter Dobrin did when he chatted with Lang Lang, the Curtis grad who has become an international phenomenon.
