In an opinion article “Cornell Must Defend Its Values,” James Grimmelmann, a professor of digital and information law, noted that on Jan. 28, the Trump administration issued an executive order purporting to forbid federal funding to institutions that provide such care.
“I read with interest and dismay the news that Weill Cornell Medicine removed from its website a 2022 statement supporting gender-affirming care for transgender youth,” said Grimmelmann.
He wrote that it is a cowardly failure by Cornell to defend its core values at precisely the moment when it matters the most to stand up for them. Whimpering in fear and obeying in advance will not stop the Trump administration’s all-out attacks on trans people and universities.
If the university believed on Jan. 27 that “any person…any study” includes trans people, it should be willing to say it publicly, he wrote, without mealy-mouthed obfuscations like ‘our programs and community members.’ ”
Grimmelmann drafted a revised statement that, according to him, better reflects the values that Cornell claims to follow:
“A recent executive order purports to prevent Weill Cornell Medicine from providing transgender youth with gender-affirming care. We vehemently object to any attempt to prevent our patients from receiving medically appropriate care. We are studying the order carefully, along with state and federal laws and regulations and the New York Attorney General’s recent guidance. If necessary, we will protect our patients ’ rights and our ability to continue to deliver the care they deserve by taking legal action to challenge the order. Cornell remains committed to the safety and inclusion of transgender members of our community and will continue to do everything it is legally able to do to ensure they are treated equally and respectfully in all university programs.”
The Daily Pennsylvanian points out that President Trump, a 1968 alum, signed an executive order barring transgender athletes from women’s sports; the NCAA announced a policy change officially restricting women’s sports to only biological female athletes, effective immediately.
The NCAA announced the policy change after its board of governors voted to update the league’s policy following Trump’s executive order. The NCAA now prohibits student-athletes assigned male at birth or student-athletes assigned female at birth who have begun hormone therapy from competing on an NCAA women’s team.
Although the policy bars these athletes from competing, it allows transgender women or student-athletes assigned as women at birth who have begun hormone therapy to practice on an NCAA women’s team and receive all other benefits of student-athletes on that team.
Subsequently, the new policy establishes that “regardless of sex assigned at birth or gender identity, a student-athlete may participate (practice and competition) in men’s sports, assuming they meet all of NCAA’s eligibility requirements.”
Three Penn State University swimmers are suing Penn, Harvard University, the Ivy League and the NCAA for allowing 2022 college graduate and transgender athlete Lia Thomas to compete in women’s swimming and diving at Penn; as well as the announcement of a Department of Education investigation alleging Penn violated the Title IX by permitting Thomas to compete.
“The NCCA finally pulled their heads out of their asses and decided to ban men from women’s sports,” said Paula Scanlan, former swimmer and 2022 college graduate, on X.
A request for comment was left with Penn State athletics.
According to UC Berkeley University’s The Daily Californian, Cal athletics declined to comment on the NCAA decision based on President Donald Trump’s Feb. 5 executive order.
Student reporter Melody Seraydarien writes that Trump’s executive order invokes Title IX protections to justify the decision.
The role of Title IX in protecting transgender individuals has been disputed over the past several years. In 2023, the Department of Education published a Notice of Proposed Rule Making or NPRM, establishing a violation of Title IX should an educational institution place a categorical ban on transgender students competing in sports consistent with their gender identity.
In 2024, the Department of Education withdrew the NPRM. Now, Trump is using Title IX as grounds for the exclusion of transgender women from competing in sports consistent with their gender identity.
This executive order follows several high-profile cases regarding the participation of transgender student-athletes, such as swimmer Lia Thomas, who was the first transgender woman to win an NCAA championship, the Daily Californian reported.
According to Trump’s order, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, or OCR, released a statement on Feb. 6 announcing investigations into Thomas’s alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, as well as San Jose State University and Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association for supposed Title IX violations.
In a Feb. 11 press release, the Department of Education’s Office of General Counsel announced that it had sent letters to the NCAA and the National Federation of State High School Associations.
The letter urged them to revoke the accolades awarded to transgender women, stating that it would align with the NCAA’s updated policy.
Meanwhile, the state of Texas banned transgender student athletes from competing in sports other than their assigned birth gender back in 2023.
Senior news reporter Diego Hernandez for The Daily Texan writes that Texas Senate Bill 15 prohibited transgender collegiate student-athletes from competing in sports different from the sex listed on their birth certificate.
The NCAA previously allowed transgender women athletes to participate in women’s sports with guidelines and restrictions, such as submitting proof they fell below a certain testosterone level threshold set on a sport-by-sport basis.
“We strongly believe that clear, consistent, and uniform eligibility standards would be best to serve today’s student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions,” NCAA president Charlie Baker said in a news release. “To that end, President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard.”
