Trump Administration investigates SRJC for Title IX
The Santa Rosa Junior College Haehl Pavilion facility (Chase Soylu Chee / The Puma Prensa)
By Chase Soylu Chee, News Editor & Video Editor, and Aiden Damasco, Staff Writer
In early September 2025, three Santa Rosa Junior College volleyball players filed a complaint to the U.S. Department of Education, arguing that the school violated Title IX by allowing a transgender player to play on the SRJC’s volleyball team.
Following this development, the U.S. Department of Education has publicly announced an investigation into alleged discrimination against female athletes for allowing transgender students to participate in historically gender separated sports.
This investigation against the SRJC, along with 17 other educational institutions, has been brought up in an attempt to maintain the Trump administration’s policies of curbing discrimination based on sex, especially in gender specified sports, apparently jeopardizing safety and equal opportunity.
The basis of the investigation stems from Title IX, a federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any educational program or activity that receives federal funding. This federal law was put in place to promote equal opportunities in academics, admissions, and protection from sexual harassment and assault.
The Trump administration opposes transgender athletes in women’s sports due to how it defines sex, fairness in competition, and priorities in politics. The administration argues that sex is biological and fixed at birth, while arguing for biological differences in strength, speed, and advantage. This interpretation largely aligns with the administration’s conservative values, and the administration argues that the federal law Title IX is being violated by allowing transgender athletes to play in women's sports.
Since entering his second term, President Donald Trump has issued an executive order called Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports to restrict transgender athletes and criticised college campuses that allowed transgender athletes to compete, stating that allowing transgender athletes on female sports teams “[Is] so demeaning to women.”
The reintegration of transgender students in intercollegiate sports has come as a retaliation attempt to overturn previous rulings and to implement political values in sports, upholding the cultural status quo within the country. These policies risk marginalising transgender athletes while politicising sports, with both implications on the structure of intercollegiate competition as a whole.
These investigations are nothing new, with the critical case being at San Jose State University, including a transgender athlete playing on their women’s volleyball team. In 2024, a similar complaint was brought up, raising the same fairness and safety concernsthath became national when widespread news coverage and debates were brought up about transgender athletes.
In the SJSU case, a federal judge allowed the transgender player to play on the team, with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the decision. Still, since it is a major political dividing point, the current federal administration has been trying to bar transgender players from opposite-gender sports.
Historically, these investigations have resulted in federal funding cuts to programs and activities at colleges, which will affect SRJC’s spending. Ultimately, these investigations may affect both the transgender community and student athletes alike, as financial uncertainty may affect faculty, athletic programs, and overall funding for the SRJC.