The Agriculture Department will continue distributing federal funding to the University of Maine after concluding in a Title IX investigation that the institution does not allow transgender athletes on its women’s sports teams.
A USDA press release on Wednesday said the University of Maine system has "clearly communicated its compliance" with an executive order that aims to ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports, but added that "any false claim by UMaine can, and will, result in onerous and even potentially criminal financial liability."
The agency opened its review into the University of Maine system in late February following a clash between President Donald Trump and Maine Governor Janet Mills over the executive order at a White House event.
“USDA is committed to upholding the president’s executive order, meaning any institution that chooses to disregard it can count on losing future funding,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins previously said in a statement.
USDA Acting General Counsel Ralph Linden said in a letter at the time the investigation was "based upon indications that the State of Maine is openly disregarding President Trump’s Executive Order."
However, the University of Maine on February 26 assured the Agriculture Department in responses to questions that it was in compliance, according to the release. Since then, the university "has been able to access all federal funds from USDA," the release says.
According to another USDA press release, the University of Maine has received over $100 million in National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Agricultural Research Service funding in recent years. In FY24, the agency awarded $29.78 million to the university, according to Samantha Warren, a spokesperson for the University of Maine System.
“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,” University of Maine Chancellor Dannel Malloy said in a statement Wednesday.
“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,” Malloy said.
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