Quote:
Originally posted by preciousjeni
Wellll - actually, social fraternities/sororities are exempt if they are also exempt from taxes under "section 501(a) of title 26" and if the active membership consists of students of a college/university.
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Not quite. What Title IX and the Dept of Ed regs say is that the non-discrimination provisions of Title IX do not apply "to the membership practices of social fraternities and sororities which are exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, the active membership of which consists primarily of students in attendance at institutions of higher education." 34 CFR 106.14(a) (which pretty much tracks the language of 20 USCS Sec. 1681(6)(A)).
But this doesn't mean that simpy being exempt from taxation under section 501 = being exempt from the requirements of Title IX. I'm quite willing to bet that all professional, honorary and service GLOs have section 501 tax-exemption as well.
What it means is that a GLO will be exempt from the membership requirements of Title IX if it is exempt from taxation under section 501
and is social in character. Otherwise, the provision could simply leave out the word "social." So, there has to be a determination that a GLO is "social." For the latter question, the Dept of Education looks to the nature, character and purpose of the organization to determine whether the organization is social or professional, service, honorary, etc.
That was the case when my Fraternity asked the Dept, back in the 80's, to agree with us that we are a social rather than professional fraternity and could therefore remain single-sex. If I remember correctly, the letter agreeing that we are social and exempt from the membership requirements of Title IX doesn't even mention tax exempt status under section 501, but instead focuses solely on the nature and purpose of the Fraternity.