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Amend CSSB 215 (house committee printing) by adding the following appropriately numbered SECTION to the bill and renumbering subsequent SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:
SECTION ____. Subchapter G, Chapter 51, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 51.360 to read as follows:
Sec. 51.360. DUTY OF TEXAS HIGHER EDUCATION COORDINATING BOARD TO PROTECT DIVERSITY OF THOUGHT AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH. (a) It is the policy of this state, and the duty of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, working in conjunction with governing boards, system administrations, and institutions, to promote diversity of thought and the marketplace of ideas on the campuses of institutions of higher education in this state, including by:
(1) protecting the rights of freedom of speech and freedom of association guaranteed by the constitutions of the United States and of this state so that all students of those institutions may assemble peaceably for a specific stated purpose and goal; and
(2) ensuring that those rights are not unnecessarily restricted or impeded by rules or policies adopted by those institutions.
(b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, working in conjunction with governing boards, system administrations, and institutions, shall ensure that each institution does not implement a policy or otherwise engage in a practice that requires a student organization, including a religious student organization, to accept for membership in the organization a student:
(1) who demonstrates opposition to the organization's stated beliefs and purposes; or
(2) whose membership in the organization:
(A) would affect in a significant way the organization's ability to advocate public or private viewpoints; or
(B) is designed for the subversive intent of undermining the organization's ability to assemble for its stated purposes.