The U.S. Department of Education will investigate San Jose State for Title IX violations over “the mistreatment of female athletes” in having a transgender woman on its volleyball team.

The announcement came less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transgender women from playing girls and women’s sports.

Also Thursday, the NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes, limiting competition in women’s sports to athletes assigned female at birth only.

“We strongly believe that clear, consistent, and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today’s student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said. “To that end, President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard.”

SJSU, whose women’s volleyball team found itself at the center of a national discussion surrounding transgender athletes last season, was singled out as one of two universities that the Department of Education will investigate for possible Title IX violations, along with Penn.

When questioned by the Bay Area News Group about the transgender athlete during volleyball season last fall, university officials never acknowledged having a transgender athlete on the team because the player never came out publicly. They would only say they were in compliance with NCAA standards.

In a statement Thursday, SJSU President Cynthia Teniente-Matson said she is “committed to ensuring that all of our students, including our student-athletes, are treated fairly, free from discrimination, and afforded the rights and protections granted under federal and state law, including privacy rights.”

At the same time, she said that “laws and policies may intersect in complex ways.”

“Our focus remains on our values including fostering an environment that cultivates compassion, where every student has the opportunity to thrive,” Teniente-Matson said. “We remain steadfast in our role as a place of learning, respect, and opportunity for all.”

Trump’s executive order gives federal agencies, including the Justice and Education departments, wide latitude to ensure universities and other entities that receive federal funding abide by Title IX in alignment with the Trump administration’s view, which interprets “sex” as the gender people are assigned at birth.

The Spartans became the subject of national news last fall when Brooke Slusser, co-captain of the women’s volleyball team, joined a lawsuit in September accusing the NCAA of discriminating against women by allowing transgender women to compete in women’s sports.

In the lawsuit, Slusser claimed one of her teammates was transgender, contended that the teammate had a physical advantage over both teammates and opponents and that her teammate was given a scholarship over other women.

Slusser said she was not told her teammate was transgender despite travel accommodations placing them together. The Bay Area News Group has not named the student because she has not publicly confirmed her status.

Former assistant volleyball coach Melissa Batie-Smoose departed from the program in early November. She told the conservative website OutKick that she was suspended indefinitely after Batie-Smoose filed a Title IX complaint accusing the school of giving the transgender athlete preferential treatment.

The school did not say why Batie-Smoose was no longer with the team.

“SJSU retaliated against those, including the women’s volleyball assistant coach, who defended female athletes,” the department’s press release claimed.

Multiple teams forfeited matches against the Spartans, who reached the Mountain West Conference tournament final before losing to Colorado State.