Transgender long-distance runner Evie Parts was dropped from the Swarthmore College team in Pennsylvania on February 6. Now, she is suing the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Swarthmore. Parts was subsequently let go from the team the same day that the NCAA announced female competition will henceforth be limited to those assigned female at birth. Parts is claiming that the NCAA’s ban lacks sufficient legal grounds, as it is a private institution, not a government-run organization. Therefore, it does not have jurisdiction over state law or Title IX civil rights legislation.
Also named in the lawsuit are Swarthmore College men’s and women’s track coach Peter Carroll, athletic director Brad Koch, and athletics officials Christina Epps-Chiazor and Valerie Gomez. The lawsuit claims that those named caused Parts to enter “such a depressive state that she engaged in self-harm and told a friend that she wanted to kill herself.”
According to the lawsuit, Carroll and staff were not allowed to coach Parts; she was not allowed to travel with the team, and had to pay her way into track meets. She also couldn’t wear a Swarthmore uniform.
Although a report has found that transgender women have no advantage in sports, Pennsylvania’s state senate approved a bill in May to ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s and girls’ sports at the collegiate level, as well as from kindergarten up to year 12.
The NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes in early 2025. The changes limit competition in women’s sports to athletes assigned female at birth after President Donald Trump signed an executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports.
“We stand by the allegations in the complaint,” says Susie Cirilli, an attorney representing Evie Parts. “As stated in the complaint, the NCAA is a private organization that issued a bigoted policy. Swarthmore College chose to follow that policy and disregard federal and state law.”
