Freedom of Association in Higher Education Act of 2023

Subjects: Education

Summary:  <p><strong>Freedom of Association in Higher Education Act of </strong><b>2023</b></p> <p>This bill addresses freedom of association protections for college students in single-sex social organizations.</p> <p>Specifically, the bill gives students (or groups of students) enrolled at institutions of higher education (IHEs) the right to form or join social organizations, including single-sex social organizations.</p> <p>Additionally, the bill prohibits IHEs that participate in federal student-aid programs from</p> <ul> <li>taking adverse actions against single-sex social organizations or students who are members or prospective members of such organizations based solely on the practice of limiting membership to only individuals of one sex;</li> <li>taking actions that require or coerce members or prospective members of such organizations to waive protections provided under the bill, including as a condition of enrolling in the IHE; or</li> <li>imposing a recruitment restriction on a single-sex social organization that is not imposed upon other student organizations, unless the organization and IHE have entered into a written agreement allowing the restriction.</li> </ul>

<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2451 Introduced in House (IH)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2451

   To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for certain 
      freedom of association protections, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 30, 2023

    Ms. Stefanik (for herself and Mrs. Miller-Meeks) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
                             the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for certain 
      freedom of association protections, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Freedom of Association in Higher 
Education Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    (a) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are as follows:
            (1) Protect any student in a single-sex social organization 
        or any single-sex social organization from any adverse action 
        by an institution of higher education based solely on the 
        membership practice of such organization of limiting membership 
        only to individuals of one sex.
            (2) Ensure any student in a single-sex social organization 
        or any single-sex social organization is treated without bias 
        in comparison to students at an institution of higher education 
        who do not participate in single-sex social organizations, or 
        other social organizations at an institution of higher 
        education that are not single-sex.
            (3) Protect the rights of students to freely associate with 
        and participate in social organizations, including single-sex 
        social organizations.

SEC. 3. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION PROTECTIONS FOR STUDENTS IN SOCIAL 
              ORGANIZATIONS.

    Part B of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1011 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 124. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION PROTECTIONS FOR STUDENTS IN SOCIAL 
              ORGANIZATIONS.

    ``(a) Upholding Freedom of Association Protections.--Any student 
(or group of students) enrolled in an institution of higher education 
shall--
            ``(1) be able to form or apply to join any recognized or 
        unrecognized social organization, including any single-sex 
        social organization; and
            ``(2) if selected for membership by any social 
        organization, be able to join such social organization and 
        participate in such social organization.
    ``(b) Non-Retaliation Against Students of Single-Sex Social 
Organizations.--An institution of higher education that receives funds 
under this Act, including through an institution's participation in any 
program under title IV, shall not--
            ``(1) take any action to require or coerce a student or 
        prospective student who is a member or prospective member of a 
        single-sex social organization to waive the protections 
        provided under subsection (a), including as a condition of 
        enrolling in the institution;
            ``(2) take any adverse action against a single-sex social 
        organization, or a student who is a member or a prospective 
        member of a single-sex social organization, based solely on the 
        membership practice of such organization limiting membership 
        only to individuals of one sex; or
            ``(3) impose a recruitment restriction (including a 
        recruitment restriction relating to the schedule for membership 
        recruitment) on a single-sex social organization recognized by 
        the institution, which is not imposed upon other student 
        organizations by the institution, unless the organization (or a 
        council of similar organizations) and the institution have 
        entered into a mutually agreed-upon written agreement that 
        allows the institution to impose such restriction.
    ``(c) Rules of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall--
            ``(1) require an institution of higher education to 
        officially recognize a social organization, including a single-
        sex social organization;
            ``(2) prohibit an institution of higher education from 
        taking an adverse action against a student who joins a social 
        organization, including a single-sex social organization, for a 
        reason including academic misconduct or nonacademic misconduct, 
        or because the organization's purpose poses a clear harm to 
        students or employees of the institution, so long as that 
        adverse action is not based solely on the membership practice 
        of the organization of limiting membership only to individuals 
        of one sex;
            ``(3) prevent a social organization from regulating its own 
        membership;
            ``(4) inhibit the ability of the faculty of an institution 
        of higher education to express an opinion (either individually 
        or collectively) about membership in a single-sex social 
        organization, or otherwise inhibit the academic freedom of such 
        faculty to research, write, or publish material about 
        membership in such an organization; or
            ``(5) create enforceable rights against a social 
        organization or against an institution of higher education due 
        to the decision of such social organization to deny membership 
        to an individual student.
    ``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Adverse action.--The term `adverse action' includes 
        the following actions taken by an institution of higher 
        education with respect to a single-sex social organization or a 
        member or prospective member of a single-sex social 
        organization:
                    ``(A) Expulsion, suspension, probation, censure, 
                condemnation, formal reprimand, or any other 
                disciplinary action, coercive action, or sanction taken 
                by an institution of higher education or administrative 
                unit of such institution.
                    ``(B) An oral or written warning with respect to an 
                action described in subparagraph (A) made by an 
                official of an institution of higher education acting 
                in their official capacity.
                    ``(C) An action to deny participation in any 
                education program or activity, including the 
                withholding of any rights, privileges, or opportunities 
                afforded other students on campus.
                    ``(D) An action to withhold, in whole or in part, 
                any financial assistance (including scholarships and 
                on-campus employment), or denying the opportunity to 
                apply for financial assistance, a scholarship, a 
                graduate fellowship, or on-campus employment.
                    ``(E) An action to deny or restrict access to on-
                campus housing.
                    ``(F) An act to deny any certification, 
                endorsement, or letter of recommendation that may be 
                required by a student's current or future employer, a 
                government agency, a licensing board, an institution of 
                higher education, a scholarship program, or a graduate 
                fellowship to which the student applies or seeks to 
                apply.
                    ``(G) An action to deny participation in any sports 
                team, club, or other student organization, including a 
                denial of any leadership position in any sports team, 
                club, or other student organization.
                    ``(H) An action to withdraw the institution's 
                official recognition of such organization.
                    ``(I) An action to require any student to certify 
                that such student is not a member of a single-sex 
                social organization or to disclose the student's 
                membership in a single-sex social organization.
                    ``(J) An action to interject an institution's own 
                criteria into the membership practices of the 
                organization in any manner that conflicts with the 
                rights of such organization under title IX of the 
                Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) 
                or this section.
            ``(2) Single-sex social organization.--The term `single-sex 
        social organization' means--
                    ``(A) a social fraternity or sorority described in 
                section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
                which is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of 
                such Code, or an organization that has been 
                historically single-sex, the active membership of which 
                consists primarily of students or alumni of an 
                institution of higher education; or
                    ``(B) a single-sex private social club (including 
                an independent organization located off-campus) that 
                consists primarily of students or alumni of an 
                institution of higher education.''.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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