660
Kennedy, J., dissenting
term "under" to mean pursuant to, in accordance with, or as authorized or provided by. See, e. g., Gregory v. Ashcroft, 501 U. S. 452, 469 (1991) ("Because Congress nowhere stated its intent to impose mandatory obligations on the States under its § 5 powers, we concluded that Congress did not do so"); ante, at 632 ("Among petitioner's claims was a claim for monetary and injunctive relief under Title IX . . .").
It is not enough, then, that the alleged discrimination occur in a "context subject to the school district's control." Ante, at 645. The discrimination must actually be "controlled by"—that is, be authorized by, pursuant to, or in accordance with, school policy or actions. Compare ante, at 645 (defining "under" as "in or into a condition of subjection, regulation, or subordination" (emphasis added)), with ibid. (defining "under" as "subject to the guidance and instruction of" (emphasis added)).
This reading is also consistent with the fact that the discrimination must be "under" the "operations" of the grant recipient. The term "operations" connotes active and affirmative participation by the grant recipient, not merely inaction or failure to respond. See Black's Law Dictionary 1092 (6th ed. 1990) (defining "operation" as an "[e]xertion of power; the process of operating or mode of action; an effect brought about in accordance with a definite plan; action; activity").
Teacher sexual harassment of students is "under" the school's program or activity in certain circumstances, but student harassment is not. Our decision in Gebser recognizes that a grant recipient acts through its agents and thus, under certain limited circumstances, even tortious acts by teachers may be attributable to the school. We noted in Gebser that, in contrast to Title VII, which defines "employer" to include "any agent"—Title IX "contains no comparable reference to an educational institution's 'agents,' and so does not expressly call for application of agency principles." 524 U. S., at 283. As a result, we declined to incor-
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