The University of Maine’s system said Friday that it was found that it complied with federal and state laws, as well as the NCAA rules that were changed after the executive order of President Donald Trump to prohibit transgender women and girls to compete in women’s sports.
Confirmation occurred after the Trump administration had previously said that an investigation had found that the university system violated the title IX, which prohibits discrimination based on sex into educational programs that they receive federal funds, and that the Department of Agriculture would be suspending federal funds to UMS, which includes seven universities throughout the State.
“We are relieved to leave behind the review of the Title IX of the department so that the University of the Land of the Land of Maine and our state partners can continue to take advantage of the USDA and other essential federal funds to strengthen and grow our economy of natural resources and the dependent rural communities through education, research and extension of the world class,” said Dannel Mally, the chancelor of the system in a statement to NBC News.
In fiscal year 2024, UMS received almost $ 30 million in funds from the USDA, according to the school system.
The UMS statement followed an announcement of the USDA on Wednesday that said that the university system “clearly communicated its fulfillment of the title IX to protect the equal opportunities so that women and girls compete in safe and fair sports, as articulated in the executive order of President Donald J. Trump.”
Trump’s transgender sports order, which signed last month, prohibits trans women and girls from participating in women’s sports and establishing that the federal government will terminate the funds of the educational programs they do not comply. The order, which refers to trans women as men, says that having trans women in female sports “is degrading, unfair and dangerous for women and girls, and denies women and girls equal opportunities to participate and excel in competitive sports.”
The USDA temporarily arrested UMS funds, the system said in a press release on March 11. In an email, the USDA’s office of the financial director said it was evaluating “if you should take any monitoring action related to possible violations of title VI or Title IX”, according to the statement.
“The USDA undertakes to defend the president’s executive order, which means any institution that chooses to ignore it can have the loss of future funds,” said the United States Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, last month, according to a press release.
Samantha Warren, Officer of External Affairs and Government Affairs of UMS, said that Maine’s public universities have always complied with state and federal laws and the rules of the NCAA, and the system “continued to comply when the NCAA updated its rules in February.”
In 2022, the NCAA adopted a sports approach to athlete for transgender athletes, postponing to the policies established by the national government body of each sport, subject to review and recommendation of an NCAA committee. Last month, after Trump’s executive order, the College Sports Association updated its policy to limit “competition in women’s sports to students assigned only at birth.”
