The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights launched 18 new Title IX investigations into policies that allow transgender students to compete on sports teams aligning with their gender identity, escalating federal scrutiny of campus athletic policies. The office said complaints allege those policies jeopardize safety and equal opportunities for women and girls and vowed exhaustive enforcement. The move followed back-to-back U.S. Supreme Court arguments over state bans on transgender athletes; early questioning from some conservative justices suggested sympathy for state restrictions. The twin tracks — federal investigatory action and Supreme Court deliberations — put colleges and K–12 systems in a precarious regulatory moment. Athletics directors, counsel and compliance offices must now monitor investigations and court rulings closely. Outcomes could force rapid policy revisions, trigger DOJ referrals, or put large education funding streams at risk for entities found noncompliant with federal sex‑discrimination protections.