119-hr2555

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2555 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 2555

 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

 April 1, 2025

Mrs. Houchin (for herself and Mr. Garcia of California) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
 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 2025''.

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.''.
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