The Trump administration has frozen $175 million in federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania, citing policies allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports, according to the White House.

The pause is connected to an investigation into transgender athletes’ participation in sports. As of Wednesday afternoon, the university said it hadn’t heard anything from the federal government.

Penn leaders say the "scope and pace of the possible disruptions we face may make them more severe than those of previous challenges, such as the 2008 financial crisis or the Covid pandemic."