Indianapolis, Aug. 8, 2016—Fraternities have reached out to the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) for insight around inclusion as the needs of transgender college students have recently received increased attention. The NIC has established a working group to review the student development and legal perspectives in this area.

We have heard from fraternities that they would like more education in this area,” said NIC President & CEO Judson Horras. “They are listening to their members and constituents and seeking out greater information around potential policy options and their implications.”

The Transgender Inclusion Working Group will:

Conduct a scan of existing membership inclusion and/or anti-discrimination policies of fraternal organizations, higher education associations, universities and other such groups.

Survey interests and concerns, interviewing experts and constituents.

Obtain legal insight around impact on the Title IX exemption of single-sex fraternities and sororities, as well as exposure to discrimination-based claims.

Outline leading practices and provide member fraternities with a report enabling them to make informed policy decisions.

The charge of this group is not to recommend a specific policy or set an industry-wide standard. Each NIC fraternity is a sovereign organization that selects its own members based on its guidelines. The group will provide information and leading practices to fraternities to support their members.

Many organizations across society—from campuses to businesses to government entities—are currently working through these same policy questions,” said Horras. “Fraternities are selective organizations that get to choose their members, and we have an opportunity to be more inclusive.”

We welcome input on this topic. Please reach out to Patrick Jessee, Executive Director of Delta Sigma Phi and Chairman of the work group, or Heather Kirk, NIC Chief Communication Officer, to provide information or your perspective throughout August.

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Founded in 1909, the NIC is the trade association representing inter/national men’s fraternities. The NIC’s member organizations boast more than 6,000 chapters located on more than 800 campuses in the United States and Canada, with approximately 375,000 undergraduate members and nearly 5 million alumni.