Opinion ID: 415517
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Statute and HEW's Regulation

Text: 12 Section 901(a) of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 provides that, [n]o person shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.... 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1681(a). Congress gave federal agencies the power to enforce this prohibition by authorizing regulations which may include a fund cutoff provision. Section 902 provides, in pertinent part: 13 Each Federal department and agency which is empowered to extend Federal financial assistance to any education program or activity, by way of grant, loan, or contract ... is authorized and directed to effectuate the provisions of section 1681 of this title with respect to such program or activity by issuing rules, regulations, or orders of general applicability which shall be consistent with the statute authorizing the financial assistance in connection with which the action is taken.... Compliance with any requirement adopted pursuant to this section may be effected (1) by termination or refusal to grant or to continue assistance under such program or activity to any recipient as to whom there has been an express finding on the record, after opportunity for hearing, of a failure to comply with such requirement, but such termination or refusal shall be limited to the ... recipient as to whom such a finding has been made, and shall be limited in its effect to the particular program, or part thereof, in which such non-compliance has been so found.... Provided however, that no such action shall be taken until the department or agency concerned has advised the appropriate person or persons of the failure to comply with the requirement and has determined that compliance cannot be secured by voluntary means. 14 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1682. 15 Pursuant to this authority, HEW issued regulations in 1974. Regulation 86.31(b)(7) provided the basis for the Secretary's threatened cutoff of federal funds at the University of Miami. That Regulation provides, in pertinent part: 16 A recipient shall not, on the basis of sex: ... 17 (7) Aid or perpetuate discrimination against any person by providing significant assistance to any agency, organization, or person which discriminates on the basis of sex in providing any aid, benefit or service to students or employees. 18 40 Fed.Reg. 24128 (1975). The Secretary explained the purpose and function of this Regulation on outside organizations: 19 Section 86.31(b)(7) prohibits a recipient from assisting another party which discriminates on the basis of sex in serving students or employees of that recipient. This section might apply, for example, to financial support by the recipient to a community recreational group or to official institutional sanction of a professional or social organization. Among the criteria to be considered in each case are the substantiality of the relationship between the recipient subject to the regulation and the other party involved, including the financial support by the recipient, and whether the other party's activities relate so closely to the recipient's educational program or activity, or to students or employees in that program, that they fairly should be considered as activities of the recipient itself. (Under section 86.6(c), a recipient's obligations are not changed by membership in any league or other organization whose rules require or permit discrimination on the basis of sex). 20 39 Fed.Reg. 22229 (1974). HEW also described in the Federal Register some additional standards which would guide its enforcement of Regulation 86.31(b)(7): 21 [S]uch forms of assistance as faculty sponsors, facilities, administrative staff, etc. may be significant enough to create the nexus and to render the organization subject to the regulation. Such determinations will turn on the facts and circumstances of specific situations. 22 40 Fed.Reg. 24132 (1975). 23 It should be noted that the statute itself fails to define the terms education program or activity. Section 901(c) of the statute does define the term educational institution, 9 as follows: 24 For purposes of this chapter an educational institution means any public or private preschool, elementary, or secondary school, or any institution of vocational, professional, or higher education, except that in the case of an educational institution composed of more than one school, college, or department which are administratively separate units, such term means each such school, college, or department. 25 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1681(c). 26 In our initial consideration of this case, we interpreted these comments to mean that, while the sanction of a cutoff of federal funds normally is limited to a recipient's discriminatory program or activity directly receiving federal funds, a different standard applies where an outside organization is involved. In such a case, we found it necessary to consider the substantiality of the relationship between a university and the outside party and whether that party's activities relate so closely to a university's educational program or activity, or to students or employees in that program, that these activities should be considered as activities of a university itself for the purpose of terminating federal funding. 27 We now turn our attention to the effect of the Supreme Court's decision in North Haven on our previous holding that the Secretary properly exercised his authority under Title IX when he (1) promulgated Regulation 86.31(b)(7) and (2) applied the Regulation to compel the University to disassociate itself from the Society so long as Iron Arrow maintains its all-male membership policy or face a termination of federal funds. 28 After careful study, we now determine that the case law, including the North Haven decision, strongly supports our prior conclusion that Regulation 86.31(b)(7) is valid both on its face and as applied. Each and every federal program at the University is necessarily discriminatory as a result of Iron Arrow's relationship to the University. The discriminatory practices of the Society, by their nature and in light of the intertwined histories of Iron Arrow and the University, infect the entire academic mission of the University. In reaching this conclusion, it is immaterial that federal funds are not directly earmarked to Iron Arrow itself. The effect of the program-specific requirements of North Haven is that, while the University as a whole is not subject to the prohibitions and sanctions of Title IX, each and every program or activity at the University receiving federal assistance is so subject to the statute's strictures. We also find that the statutory language and the statute's pre-enactment and post-enactment legislative history bear out our conclusion that Congress intended that Title IX cover honor societies such as Iron Arrow.