UPenn Chooses to Nominate Lia Thomas as NCAA ‘Woman of the Year’ – Opinion

RedState has covered extensively the trials and tribulations involved in the University of Pennsylvania athletic program, specifically the women’s swimming team and transgender student-athlete Lia Thomas, most recently in mid-June. You can find much more of my colleagues’ great coverage of this story here.

Thomas was the subject of a National Collegiate Athletic Association announcement (NCAA) on Thursday. This news was reported in several publications Friday.

New York Daily News

Lia Thomas was the first transgender swimmer to win an NCAA Division I championship. She has now been nominated as the 2022 NCAA Woman of the year Award.

In a Thursday news release, the National Collegiate Athletic Association stated that the 22-year-old student-athlete was one of five77 nominees for this prestigious award.

Thomas was nominated to receive the award by University of Pennsylvania.

Here’s the purpose of the award, according to an NCAA statement:

“Established in 1991, the award recognizes female student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in their community, in athletics and in academics throughout their college careers,” the release read.

“As 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the NCAA Woman of the Year program is an important opportunity to honor and reflect on the impact of women on intercollegiate sports.”

The NY Daily News piece explains that as part of the nomination process, each eligible school “can submit the names of up to two female student-athletes. The Woman of the Year Selection Committee will then select 10 athletes from each division to determine the top 30 honorees.”

Jennifer C. Braceras, director of the Independent Women’s Law Center and the Independent Women’s Forum, took to the Twitters after learning about the news.

Many people were shocked that UPenn’s alumnae female athletes are being treated so poorly. It’s truly a slap in the face for their years of struggles and sacrifices–doing what they love–to be treated with such disdain.

UPenn boasts a lot of outstanding female athletes. However, #LiaThomas was not nominated by the university for the NCAA female athlete award. Shame on Penn for denying a woman this honour.

UPenn boasts a lot of outstanding female athletes. However, the university did not nominate. #LiaThomasNCAA Female athlete of the Year Shame on Penn for denying a woman this honour. @IWF @IWV @icons_women @WomensLibFront @SaveWomensSport

— Jennifer C Braceras (@J_Braceras) July 15, 2022

I can’t argue with her reasoning, as Braceras added in a reply to her tweet, just this as a hashtag: “UPennHatesWomen.”