Wyoming
Trump administration investigates University of Wyoming over transgender sorority sister – WyoFile
The Trump administration announced Monday it’s investigating the University of Wyoming for alleged Title IX violations stemming from members of a campus sorority voting to admit a transgender woman in 2022, despite the school’s insistence that it doesn’t have a say in the membership of the private organization.
Critics of the admission of Artemis Langford have, until now, focused their efforts on the sorority itself: Kappa Kappa Gamma. Six of the sorority’s members sued the organization over the decision to admit Langford in 2023, but the case was dismissed by U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson, who ruled the government cannot interfere with how a private, voluntary organization chooses its members.
The lawsuit did not name the University of Wyoming as a defendant. That didn’t stop the Trump administration, which has already challenged California and Maine over transgender policies, from pursuing an investigation into the Equality State’s lone, four-year public university.
“[The Office for Civil Rights] launched an investigation into the University of Wyoming after the university allowed a man to join a campus sorority,” the Department of Education announced in a statement Monday, indicating that, at least in the administration’s view, the onus was on the university to police KKG’s membership practices, a stance that at least one attorney who focuses on Title IX issues told WyoFile was legally questionable.
The Department of Education revealed the investigation in an announcement recognizing June as “Title IX Month.” (June is more prominently known as Pride Month, a time of recognition of the LGBTQ+ community.) The department said it would “highlight actions taken to reverse the Biden Administration’s legacy of undermining Title IX and announce additional actions to protect women in line with the true purpose of Title IX.”
The school, for its part, continues to maintain that Langford’s admission is a sorority matter. The University of Wyoming’s “position has been that it doesn’t control decisions about sorority and fraternity membership,” the university said in a prepared statement. “Appropriately, the university has not been a participant in litigation in federal court regarding the legality of the sorority’s decision to admit the transgender student.”
Title IX — a federal law prohibiting discrimination based on sex in educational programs and activities — provides an exemption for the membership practices of social sororities and fraternities, according to attorney Melissa Carleton, who works with colleges and universities across the country on Title IX issues.
The Department of Education claims that KKG lost its exemption as a sorority by deviating from single-sex membership practices by deciding to admit a transgender woman.
Because the statute says social sororities “are outside the bounds of Title IX, it’s not clear the [Department of Education] has enforcement authority,” to define who can and cannot be a member, Carleton said.
If UW is found to be in violation of Title IX, its federal funding could be on the line, Carleton said.
“The Office for Civil Rights’ initiation of an investigation is not itself evidence of a violation of federal civil rights laws and regulations,” UW stated. “The university believes it has been and is in compliance with Title IX but intends to fully cooperate with the investigation and will work with the Office for Civil Rights to come into compliance if needed.”
How we got here
The announcement comes just days before a deadline in an ongoing civil lawsuit against UW’s Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter that began over two years ago.
In March 2023, six members sued the sorority for allegedly breaking its bylaws, breaching housing contracts and misleading sisters when it admitted Langford, a transgender woman, by a majority vote of its members.
The plaintiffs include Jaylyn Westenbroek, Hannah Holtmeier, Allison Coghan, Grace Choate, Madeline Ramar and Megan Kosar.
Reasoning that the government cannot interfere with how a private, voluntary organization determines its members, a U.S. District Court dismissed the case in August 2023.
The suing sorority sisters appealed the decision, but the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected their arguments and gave the plaintiffs two options: amend their complaint or ask the lower court for a final judgment.
“More than nine months after the Tenth Circuit issued its decision, they have neither amended their complaint nor notified us of their decision to ‘stand on the original complaint,’ which would allow them to receive a final judgment that could be appealed,” U.S. District Court Judge Alan Johnson wrote, ordering the plaintiffs to fish or cut bait by June 9.
The plaintiffs had not taken court action as of press time.
The plaintiffs have, however, developed a direct connection with the Trump administration since their initial complaint.
May Mailman, who previously worked as their attorney, joined the White House in January as deputy assistant and senior policy strategist to President Donald Trump.
During the time that Mailman represented the plaintiffs, she worked as legal director of the Independent Women’s Forum, a DC-based, right-wing policy group that attached itself to the case. Several of the plaintiffs now serve as “ambassadors” for the organization and can be booked for speaking events.
“With the help of Independent Women, the University of Wyoming sorority sisters have been standing up for sisterhood and to keep sororities female ever since. Their advocacy footprint has expanded reaching sorority women nationwide,” the organization said in a press release shortly following the Department of Education’s announcement.
Langford never lived in the sorority house on campus. In a statement to WyoFile, her attorney said her client did not know what prompted the Trump administration to launch an investigation now.
“After Ms. Langford’s sisters voted her into the sorority, some filed a Title IX complaint about her admission. Ms. Langford does not know who those sisters were,” her attorney, Rachel Berkness, said in a statement that noted the complaint was eventually dropped. “After Ms. Langford celebrated her graduation from UW last month, she is surprised to learn that the Independent Women’s Forum, a political think tank that has promoted itself through litigation against Ms. Langford, is now advertising a new Title IX investigation.”
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Two men were detained in Wyoming in connection with a fatal shooting at a downtown Salt Lake hotel that killed one man.
Carlos Chee, 23, and Chino Aguilar, 21, were both wanted for first-degree felony murder after the victim, identified as Christian Lee, 32, was found dead in a room at the Springhill Suites near 600 South and 300 West.
According to warrants issued for their arrest, Chee and Aguilar met with Lee and another woman at the hotel to sell marijuana. During the alleged drug deal, Aguilar allegedly shot and killed Lee after he tried to grab at his gun.
MORE | Shootings
Investigators said they found Lee dead in the room upon arrival, as well as a single shell casing on the floor and a small amount of marijuana on the television stand.
The woman told investigators she had met Chee on a dating app and that he agreed to come to the hotel to sell her marijuana. She had been hanging out with him in the room, which Lee rented for her to use, when Lee asked them to leave. Lee was then shot and killed following a brief confrontation.
Chee and Aguilar allegedly fled the scene in a 2013 Toyota Camry with a Texas license plate that was later found outside of Rock Springs, Wyoming just a few hours later.
The two men were taken into custody and detained at the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office.
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ROCK SPRINGS, Wyoming (KUTV) — A man was hospitalized with critical injuries after he was reportedly shot by a deputy responding to reports of a disturbance.
Deputies with the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office and officers with the Rock Springs Police Department responded to the Sweetwater Heights apartment complex in the 2100 block of Century Boulevard just after 4 a.m. on Monday to investigate reports of a disturbance involving an armed individual.
Information that dispatch received indicated that the individual had shot himself. When officials arrived, they found the individual on the balcony of an upstairs apartment “who appeared to have a gunshot wound consistent with the initial report,” a press release states.
MORE | Officer-Involved Shooting
During the encounter, a deputy discharged their weapon and struck the individual.
Emergency medical personnel rendered aid, and the individual was transported to an area hospital in critical condition.
No law enforcement officers or members of the public were injured during the incident.
The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation will conduct an independent investigation.
The deputy who fired their weapon was placed on administrative leave per standard protocol.
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by Maggie Mullen, WyoFile
Albert Sommers, former Wyoming Speaker of the House, announced Thursday he will attempt to reclaim a seat he formerly held for more than a decade in the statehouse.
“Leadership matters,” Sommers, a lifelong cattle rancher, wrote in a press release. “Right now, the Wyoming House is too often focused on division instead of solutions. We need steady, effective leadership that solves problems—not rhetoric and political theater.”
Voters in 2013 first elected Sommers to House District 20, which encompasses Sublette County and an eastern section of Lincoln County. As a lawmaker, Sommers largely focused on health care, education and water issues. Over six terms, he rose through the ranks, serving in leadership positions and chairing committees focused on education funding and broadband.
In his announcement, Sommers highlighted his legislative work to establish funding for rural hospitals, prioritize “responsible property tax relief,” as well as the creation of the Wyoming Colorado River Advisory Committee within the State Engineer’s Office, “to ensure our water users have a voice in critical decisions affecting the Green River Valley,” he wrote.
As speaker, Sommers was a frequent target of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus as well as the DC-based State Freedom Caucus Network, even getting the attention of Fox News and other national, conservative news outlets. They often accused Sommers of not being conservative enough, and criticized him for keeping bills in “the drawer,” which has long been code for the unilateral power a speaker has to kill legislation by holding it back. (The practice of holding bills has been used to a much higher degree under Freedom Caucus leadership.)
In 2023, Sommers used the speaker’s powers to kill bills related to a school voucher program, banning instruction on gender and sexual orientation from some classrooms and criminalizing gender-affirming care for minors. At the time, Sommers defended his decision to hold back “bills that are unconstitutional, not well vetted, duplicate bills or debates, and bills that negate local control, restrict the rights of people or risk costly litigation financed by the people of Wyoming.”
He reiterated that philosophy and defended his record in his Thursday campaign announcement.
“I am a common-sense conservative who believes in getting things done. I support our core industries—oil and gas, ranching, and tourism—and I will continue to fight for the people and natural resources of Sublette County and LaBarge. I am pro-gun, pro-life, pro-family, and pro-education,” Sommers wrote. “I also take seriously my oath to uphold the U.S. and Wyoming Constitutions, which means I didn’t support bills that violated those constitutions. I read bills carefully and I voted accordingly.”
Following his term as speaker, Sommers stepped away from the House to run for Senate District 14 in 2024. He lost in the primary election to political newcomer Laura Pearson, a Freedom Caucus-endorsed Republican from Kemmerer, who also won in the general election. Her Senate win coincided with the Freedom Caucus winning control of the House.
“That race didn’t go my way, and I respected the outcome,” Sommers said in a Thursday press release. But “the direction of the Wyoming House,” since then, he said, has “raised serious concerns.”
Sommers pointed to the Freedom Caucus and its budget proposal, which, despite a funding surplus, included major cuts and funding denials. Ahead of the session, the caucus said its sights were set on shrinking spending and limiting the growth of government.
In his Thursday press release, Sommers criticized “decisions that cut food assistance for vulnerable children, reduced business opportunities, slashed funding to the University of Wyoming, eliminated resources for cheatgrass control, denied raises for state employees, and removed positions critical to protecting Wyoming’s water rights.”
Most of those proposals did not make it into the final budget bill.
Sommers also pointed to a controversy that dominated the 2026 session after a Teton County conservative activist handed out campaign checks to lawmakers on the House floor. Lawmakers in both chambers unanimously voted to ban such behavior before a House Special Investigative Committee found that the exchange did not violate the Wyoming Constitution nor did it amount to legislative misconduct. A Laramie County Sheriff’s Office criminal investigation is still underway.
But “controversies like ‘Checkgate’ undermined public trust, and decorum in the House deteriorated,” Sommers said.
“Transparency and accessibility will remain central to how I serve,” Sommers said. “As I’ve done before, I will provide regular updates on legislation, seek your input, and clearly explain my votes.”
Incumbent bows out
Rep. Mike Schmid, R-La Barge, currently represents House District 20, but announced Thursday morning that he would not seek reelection.
“It has truly been an honor to serve as your State Representative for House District 20. When I first ran, I had hoped to serve up to three terms and continue building on what I learned during my first term,” Schmid wrote in a Facebook post. “But life can change your priorities. Over the past year, my family has gone through some difficult times. My wife is dealing with serious health issues, and the death of my brother, Jim, just a few short weeks ago have made it clear to me where I need to spend my time.”
In March, Bill Winney, a perennial candidate and former nuclear submarine commander, announced he would run for House District 20.
The official candidate filing period opens May 14.
This article was originally published by WyoFile and is republished here with permission. WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.
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