Trans Runner Sues NCAA, Swarthmore College After Removal From Women's Track Team
Evie Parts claims the NCAA's policy banning males from women's sports is discriminatory in a lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania.
PublishedAugust 17, 2025 12:25 PM EDT•UpdatedAugust 17, 2025 12:25 PM EDT
A trans-identifying male runner has filed a federal lawsuit against the NCAA and Swarthmore College after being removed from the school’s women’s track team earlier this year.
Evie Parts, a biological male, claims the NCAA’s updated transgender policy is "bigoted" and illegally disqualified Parts from competing in women’s sports. The lawsuit, filed in Pennsylvania, also names Swarthmore track coach Peter Carroll, athletic director Brad Koch and athletic department officials Christina Epps-Chiazor and Valerie Gomez.
Parts was removed from the team on February 6, 2025 — the same day the NCAA announced a new policy restricting participation in women’s events to athletes "assigned female at birth." The rule change came just one day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order mandating that federal Title IX protections apply only to biological females.
A trans-identifying male athlete is suing the NCAA over its updated policy that prevents males from competing in women's athletic events.
(Getty Images)
According to the complaint, Swarthmore officials' enforcement of the NCAA policy caused Parts emotional distress. It alleges Parts was sent into "such a depressive state that she engaged in self-harm and in one moment told a friend that she wanted to kill herself."
Parts' attorneys called the NCAA’s policy discriminatory.
"As stated in the complaint, the NCAA is a private organization that issued a bigoted policy," attorney Susie Cirilli said. "Swarthmore College chose to follow that policy and disregard federal and state law."
The NCAA declined to comment on the lawsuit, while Swarthmore released a statement saying it "deeply values our transgender community members."
"We recognize that this is an especially difficult and painful time for members of the transgender community, including student-athletes," the college said. "We worked to support Evie Parts in a time of rapidly evolving guidance, while balancing the ability for other members of the women’s track team to compete in NCAA events."
Trump’s Order Sparks NCAA Policy ShiftThe NCAA’s updated policy prohibits male athletes from competing in the women’s category but allows them to practice with women's teams and receive other benefits.
"This national standard brings much needed clarity," NCAA President Charlie Baker said at the time. "President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard."
The policy applies to all student-athletes — even those previously cleared under the NCAA’s old transgender participation rules.
President Donald Trump signs the "No Men in Women's Sports" Executive Order into law in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 5, 2025.
(Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
Parts, who originally joined the Swarthmore team in 2020 and returned to competition in 2023, was given two options: either join the men's team or compete unattached. However, only by joining the men's team would Parts be eligible to receive medical treatment.
On April 11, though, Swarthmore "fully reinstated" Parts, allowing the long-distance runner to compete with the women’s team until graduating in May.
Legal Battles Continue Over Title IXThe Parts lawsuit comes on the heels of a similar case in New Jersey, where trans-identifying male runner Sadie Schreiner sued Princeton University after being removed from a school-hosted meet in May.
The lawsuits are the latest in a growing legal pushback against Trump’s executive order, which has already prompted states like California, Minnesota and Washington to defy federal mandates — triggering Department of Education investigations and legal action.
As OutKick has previously reported, the Department of Justice is now suing the state of California for refusing to comply with Title IX enforcement. Meanwhile, two related cases challenging state transgender sports bans are set to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court this fall — rulings that could have sweeping implications for the future of women’s athletics across the country.