The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Wednesday announced that the University of Maine System (UMS) has agreed to keep transgender-identifying men out of women’s sports, in compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive order.
“After the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) initiated a Title IX compliance review regarding federal funding, the University of Maine System (UMaine) has clearly communicated its compliance with Title IX’s requirement to protect equal opportunities for women and girls to compete in safe and fair sports, as articulated in President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order,” USDA said in a press release.
The USDA temporarily paused funding for UMS, which is comprised of eight public universities in the state, last week over the issue and reinstated funds just days later. The department said the university system is now in compliance with Trump’s order. Still, it warned that “[a]ny false claim by the UMaine can, and will, result in onerous and even potentially criminal financial liability.”
By Feb. 26, 2025, UMaine responded to USDA’s questions, confirming that it does not have males participating in women’s sports and complies with NCAA regulations. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) notably banned males from competing in women’s sports less than 24 hours after Trump’s order rewriting Title IX. USDA said UMaine has had access to federal funds since it confirmed its compliance.
“The choice for the rest of Maine is simple: protect equal opportunities for women, as required by law, or lose funding,” USDA added.
UMS Chancellor Dannel Malloy told Fox News Digital that UMaine is “relieved” to “put the Department’s Title IX compliance review behind us.”
“The University of Maine System has always maintained its compliance with state and federal laws and with NCAA rules, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture also affirmed in a press release today,” Malloy said.
“We are relieved to put the Department’s Title IX compliance review behind us so the land-grant University of Maine and our statewide partners can continue to leverage USDA and other essential federal funds to strengthen and grow our natural resource economy and dependent rural communities through world-class education, research, and extension,” he continued.
According to the report, USDA awarded at least $29.78 million to UMS for research in the 2024 fiscal year alone. In a letter to the system, the USDA said it has awarded over $100 million to UMS in recent years.
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President Trump’s executive order on “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports” was created to protect female student athletes from having “to compete with or against or having to appear unclothed before males.” The order also mandates each federal department to “review grants to education programs and, where appropriate, rescind funding to programs that fail to comply with the policy established in this order,” which protects women “as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.”
Following his order, several Democrat-run states said they planned to flout to order, including California, Minnesota, and Maine. Then, in February, a transgender-identifying boy claimed the victory in the Maine Class B championship for the Greely High School girls’ track and field team.
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