USDA deems University of Maine System to be in compliance with Title IX

Though the University of Maine System was officially cleared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture of any violations of Title IX, Chancellor Dannel Malloy said the system had been in compliance the entire time.

The USDA investigation was among several launched last month as part of federal scrutiny of Maine’s education policies, stemming from a clash between Gov. Janet Mills and Trump over trans inclusion in girls’ sports. USDA froze funds to the university system last week for potential Title IX and Title IV violations, which ban sex and race-based discrimination respectively. After Sen. Susan Collins reportedly intervened with the Trump administration, funding to UMS was restored.

On Wednesday, USDA concluded its compliance review in a news release saying that the university system was in compliance but also warning the rest of the state to follow suit or risk losing funding. 

“UMaine’s decision to side with sanity is a win for women and girls in Maine,” the release said. “The choice for the rest of Maine is simple: protect equal opportunities for women, as required by law, or lose funding.”

While other federal agencies have targeted the Maine Department of Education, the Maine Principals Association and individual school districts for following the Maine Human Rights Act, which protects the rights of trans students, the University of Maine System is a quasi-independent agency and follows NCAA rules. 

“The University of Maine System has always maintained its compliance with state and federal laws and with NCAA rules,” said Malloy in a release Wednesday afternoon, adding that he is “relieved to put the Department’s Title IX compliance review behind us.”

Another investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found Maine DOE, the Maine Principals Association, and Greely High School in violation of Title IX. The federal law banning sex-based discrimination does not reference trans people directly, but the Trump administration is interpreting the decision to allow trans girls to participate in girls’ sports as discrimination against cisgender girls, according to the HHS investigation, which reached its determination after just four days.

The consequences of that investigation are unclear, but Maine DOE has been ordered to return some federal funding. The Maine Attorney General’s Office has declined to comment on whether it will challenge the findings in court.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story had a quote from Chancellor Dannel Malloy that was in reference to the funding pause, not the investigation.