The federal government has temporarily halted millions of dollars in funding through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the University of Maine System (UMS).
The USDA announced publicly on February 22 that it would be initiating a review of UMS’ compliance with Title IV and Title IX, citing “the State of Maine’s blatant disregard for President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) 14201, Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”
Title IV refers to a subsection of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibiting discrimination on the basis of “race, color, or national origin.” Title IX is a federal law barring schools and educational programs from discriminating on the basis of sex.
For FY24, the USDA awarded the University of Maine (UMaine) nearly $30 million for “research and extension” that was used across a variety of program and initiatives.
The USDA’s February press release noted that UMaine has received over $100 million in funding from the agency.
“Compliance with federal law is mandatory for institutions to continue receiving taxpayer funded support, including USDA grants,” the statement said.
Click Here to Read the Full USDA Announcement
This past month, the USDA temporarily paused funding through the Specialty Group Block Grant program, including the payments made to UMaine researchers.
UMS notes in a press release published Tuesday that the University of Southern Maine (USM) also has several active USDA awards.
According to UMS, the system was contacted three days after the agency’s initial announcement of its intention to investigate the system, at which time staff proved “timely responses” to the department’s questions.
The press releases suggests that these questions were “not specific to any one UMS university and largely focused on whether biological males could compete on women’s sports teams.”
In verbal and written responses, UMS says that they “confirmed its athletic programs were in compliance with relevant State and Federal laws.”
They went on to say that “universities that are members of the NCAA are also operating in a manner entirely consistent with that association’s recently updated policies, which do not allow for varsity student-athletes assigned male at birth to compete in female sports.”
UMS indicated in their statement that they had no further communication from the USDA regarding their Title IX compliance review until they were forwarded a message on Monday, March 10 alerting them of the funding freeze.
It is also noted that UMS is “unaware” of Title VI compliance reviews being conducted by the USDA or any other federal agency.
Click Here to Read UMaine’s Full Statement
Earlier this year, Gov. Janet Mills (D) drew national attention after facing off against President Donald Trump (R) in Washington D.C. over his administration’s policy that biological men cannot compete in women’s sports leagues.
“Well you better do it, [comply with the order], you better do it,” President Trump said to Gov. Mills during a luncheon with governors from across the country, “because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all if you don’t.”
“And, by the way, your population, even though it’s somewhat liberal, although I did very well there, you’re population doesn’t want men playing in women’s sports,” said Trump.
Mills responded with a line that has since become synonymous with her push back against the Trump Administration’s policy: “See you in court.”
“Good, I’ll see you in court,” the president responded. “I look forward to that, that should be a real easy one.”
Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice warned Maine officials that it is prepared to take legal action if the state continues to allow biological men to compete in women’s sports, a policy the department says violates federal anti-discrimination laws.
In a letter sent to Mills on February 25, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the DoJ will hold states accountable if they defy federal law.
“Requiring girls to compete against boys in sports and athletic events violates Title IX,” Attorney General Bondi wrote, emphasizing that under the U.S. Constitution, federal law takes precedence over conflicting state policies.
State Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn), who has been an outspoken critic of allowing men to compete in women’s sports, was recently formally censured over a viral Facebook post identifying a biologically male teenage athlete taking first place in a girls’ track and field contest.
At the end of February, the Maine House of Representatives voted 75 to 70 in favor of censuring Rep. Libby, stripping her of the right to speak on the floor of the House or vote on legislation until she apologizes for the post.
On Tuesday, Libby filed a lawsuit against Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau in the U.S. District Court of Maine alleging that the censure violates her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
“Instead of having an open and honest debate about the devastating impacts of Maine girls being forced to compete against biological males, Speaker Fecteau and his Democratic colleagues resorted to canceling and silencing me,” she said in a statement announcing the suit.
In her lawsuit, Rep. Libby cites specific examples of Speaker Fecteau posting photos of students for what she identifies as political purposes.
She also draws attention to the fact that her actions were driven not only to protect female athletes, but to point out that Maine is in violation of Trump’s executive order.
Named as co-plaintiffs are a half dozen specific constituents of Rep. Libby.
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