University of California, Santa Barbara: Fraternities and Sororities Banned from Associating with Unrecognized Organizations
Cases
University of California, Santa Barbara
Case Overview
The University of California, Santa Barbara maintains a Fraternity and Sorority Life policy that bans Greek groups from “engaging in organizational events (formal or informal, regardless of location)” with organizations unrecognized by the university. On March 21, 2023, FIRE wrote the university explaining that the First Amendment’s freedom of association prohibits public universities from banning students from associating with disfavored groups. UCSB responded on May 4, promising to consider our concerns as it revises the policy. We followed up in February 2024 and, in May, the university narrowed its ban to “organizational events” with only those groups “closed/unrecognized due to misconduct.” In December 2024, after receiving reports that the university administrators had banned individual students from associating with unrecognized fraternities, FIRE wrote UCSB again on January 10, 2025, calling on it to recognize students’ First Amendment right to associate with all groups. On January 31, UCSB affirmed that students are free to associate with groups of their choosing.