Freedom of Association in Higher Education Act of 2023

I 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 Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Freedom of Associa- 4 tion in Higher Education Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 6 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as fol- 7 lows: 8 (1) Protect any student in a single-sex social 9 organization or any single-sex social organization 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2451.IH H2451 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2451 IH from any adverse action by an institution of higher 1 education based solely on the membership practice of 2 such organization of limiting membership only to in- 3 dividuals of one sex. 4 (2) Ensure any student in a single-sex social or- 5 ganization or any single-sex social organization is 6 treated without bias in comparison to students at an 7 institution of higher education who do not partici- 8 pate in single-sex social organizations, or other so- 9 cial organizations at an institution of higher edu- 10 cation that are not single-sex. 11 (3) Protect the rights of students to freely asso- 12 ciate with and participate in social organizations, in- 13 cluding single-sex social organizations. 14 SEC. 3. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION PROTECTIONS FOR 15 STUDENTS IN SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS. 16 Part B of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 17 (20 U.S.C. 1011 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 18 the following: 19 ‘‘SEC. 124. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION PROTECTIONS FOR 20 STUDENTS IN SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS. 21 ‘‘(a) UPHOLDING FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION PRO- 22 TECTIONS.—Any student (or group of students) enrolled 23 in an institution of higher education shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2451.IH H2451 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2451 IH ‘‘(1) be able to form or apply to join any recog- 1 nized or unrecognized social organization, including 2 any single-sex social organization; and 3 ‘‘(2) if selected for membership by any social 4 organization, be able to join such social organization 5 and participate in such social organization. 6 ‘‘(b) NON-RETALIATION AGAINST STUDENTS OF SIN- 7 GLE-SEX SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS.—An institution of 8 higher education that receives funds under this Act, in- 9 cluding through an institution’s participation in any pro- 10 gram under title IV, shall not— 11 ‘‘(1) take any action to require or coerce a stu- 12 dent or prospective student who is a member or pro- 13 spective member of a single-sex social organization 14 to waive the protections provided under subsection 15 (a), including as a condition of enrolling in the insti- 16 tution; 17 ‘‘(2) take any adverse action against a single- 18 sex social organization, or a student who is a mem- 19 ber or a prospective member of a single-sex social 20 organization, based solely on the membership prac- 21 tice of such organization limiting membership only 22 to individuals of one sex; or 23 ‘‘(3) impose a recruitment restriction (including 24 a recruitment restriction relating to the schedule for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2451.IH H2451 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2451 IH membership recruitment) on a single-sex social orga- 1 nization recognized by the institution, which is not 2 imposed upon other student organizations by the in- 3 stitution, unless the organization (or a council of 4 similar organizations) and the institution have en- 5 tered into a mutually agreed-upon written agreement 6 that allows the institution to impose such restriction. 7 ‘‘(c) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 8 section shall— 9 ‘‘(1) require an institution of higher education 10 to officially recognize a social organization, including 11 a single-sex social organization; 12 ‘‘(2) prohibit an institution of higher education 13 from taking an adverse action against a student who 14 joins a social organization, including a single-sex so- 15 cial organization, for a reason including academic 16 misconduct or nonacademic misconduct, or because 17 the organization’s purpose poses a clear harm to 18 students or employees of the institution, so long as 19 that adverse action is not based solely on the mem- 20 bership practice of the organization of limiting mem- 21 bership only to individuals of one sex; 22 ‘‘(3) prevent a social organization from regu- 23 lating its own membership; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2451.IH H2451 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 2451 IH ‘‘(4) inhibit the ability of the faculty of an insti- 1 tution of higher education to express an opinion (ei- 2 ther individually or collectively) about membership in 3 a single-sex social organization, or otherwise inhibit 4 the academic freedom of such faculty to research, 5 write, or publish material about membership in such 6 an organization; or 7 ‘‘(5) create enforceable rights against a social 8 organization or against an institution of higher edu- 9 cation due to the decision of such social organization 10 to deny membership to an individual student. 11 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 12 ‘‘(1) ADVERSE ACTION.—The term ‘adverse ac- 13 tion’ includes the following actions taken by an insti- 14 tution of higher education with respect to a single- 15 sex social organization or a member or prospective 16 member of a single-sex social organization: 17 ‘‘(A) Expulsion, suspension, probation, 18 censure, condemnation, formal reprimand, or 19 any other disciplinary action, coercive action, or 20 sanction taken by an institution of higher edu- 21 cation or administrative unit of such institution. 22 ‘‘(B) An oral or written warning with re- 23 spect to an action described in subparagraph 24 (A) made by an official of an institution of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2451.IH H2451 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 2451 IH higher education acting in their official capac- 1 ity. 2 ‘‘(C) An action to deny participation in 3 any education program or activity, including the 4 withholding of any rights, privileges, or oppor- 5 tunities afforded other students on campus. 6 ‘‘(D) An action to withhold, in whole or in 7 part, any financial assistance (including schol- 8 arships and on-campus employment), or deny- 9 ing the opportunity to apply for financial assist- 10 ance, a scholarship, a graduate fellowship, or 11 on-campus employment. 12 ‘‘(E) An action to deny or restrict access 13 to on-campus housing. 14 ‘‘(F) An act to deny any certification, en- 15 dorsement, or letter of recommendation that 16 may be required by a student’s current or fu- 17 ture employer, a government agency, a licensing 18 board, an institution of higher education, a 19 scholarship program, or a graduate fellowship 20 to which the student applies or seeks to apply. 21 ‘‘(G) An action to deny participation in 22 any sports team, club, or other student organi- 23 zation, including a denial of any leadership po- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2451.IH H2451 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 2451 IH sition in any sports team, club, or other student 1 organization. 2 ‘‘(H) An action to withdraw the institu- 3 tion’s official recognition of such organization. 4 ‘‘(I) An action to require any student to 5 certify that such student is not a member of a 6 single-sex social organization or to disclose the 7 student’s membership in a single-sex social or- 8 ganization. 9 ‘‘(J) An action to interject an institution’s 10 own criteria into the membership practices of 11 the organization in any manner that conflicts 12 with the rights of such organization under title 13 IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 14 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) or this section. 15 ‘‘(2) SINGLE-SEX SOCIAL ORGANIZATION.—The 16 term ‘single-sex social organization’ means— 17 ‘‘(A) a social fraternity or sorority de- 18 scribed in section 501(c) of the Internal Rev- 19 enue Code of 1986 which is exempt from tax- 20 ation under section 501(a) of such Code, or an 21 organization that has been historically single- 22 sex, the active membership of which consists 23 primarily of students or alumni of an institu- 24 tion of higher education; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2451.IH H2451 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 2451 IH ‘‘(B) a single-sex private social club (in- 1 cluding an independent organization located off- 2 campus) that consists primarily of students or 3 alumni of an institution of higher education.’’. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2451.IH H2451 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB