Freedom of Association in Higher Education Act of 2025

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

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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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