I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6978 
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 8, 2022 
Mr. GALLEGO (for himself and Mrs. MURPHY of Florida) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
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 Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Collegiate Freedom 
of Association Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION PROTECTIONS. 
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: 
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‘‘SEC. 124. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION PROTECTIONS. 
‘‘(a) NON-RETALIATION AGAINST STUDENTS OF SIN-
GLE-SEX SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS.—An institution of 
higher education that receives funds under this Act shall 
not— 
‘‘(1) take any action to require or coerce a stu-
dent or prospective student who is a member or pro-
spective member of a single-sex social organization 
to waive the requirements of paragraph (2), includ-
ing as a condition of enrolling in the institution; or 
‘‘(2) take any adverse action against a student 
who is a member or a prospective member of a sin-
gle-sex social organization based solely on the mem-
bership practice of such organization limiting mem-
bership to only individuals of one sex. 
‘‘(b) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 
section shall— 
‘‘(1) require an institution of higher education 
to officially recognize a single-sex organization; 
‘‘(2) prohibit an institution of higher education 
from taking an adverse action against a student who 
joins a single-sex social organization for a reason in-
cluding academic misconduct or nonacademic mis-
conduct, or because the organization’s purpose poses 
a clear harm to the students or employees, so long 
as that adverse action is not based solely on the 
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membership practice of the organization of limiting 
membership to only individuals of one sex; or 
‘‘(3) inhibit the ability of the faculty of an insti-
tution of higher education to express an opinion (ei-
ther 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. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ADVERSE ACTION.—The term ‘adverse ac-
tion’ means any of the following actions taken by an 
institution of higher education with respect to 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 edu-
cation or administrative unit of such institution. 
‘‘(B) An oral or written warning with re-
spect to an action described in subparagraph 
(A). 
‘‘(C) An action to deny participation in 
any education program or activity. 
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