Free Speech and Expression Rights of Students

Free Speech Rights of Student Organizations

In Healy v. James (1972), the Supreme Court addressed its first case on the constitutional rights of student organizations in public colleges and universities. Officials at Central Connecticut State College refused to recognize a local chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) due to their concern that the group's philosophy was contrary to the college's official policy. Recognition would have entitled the group to a variety of privileges, including access to campus bulletin boards and the right to use campus facilities for meetings. After a federal trial court upheld the action of officials denying SDS recognition, a divided Second Circuit affirmed. On further review, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed in favor of SDS, observing that state colleges and universities are not enclaves immune from the sweep of the First Amendment. The Court ruled that college officials could not restrict a group's speech or right to associate simply because they found the group's views to be abhorrent. Still, the Court added that administrators in public institutions may require student groups seeking official recognition to affirm in advance their willingness to abide by reasonable regulations to prevent campus disruptions.

Almost a decade later, in Widmar v. Vincent (1981), a Christian student group at the University of Missouri at Kansas City challenged officials who denied them the use of campus facilities for their meetings. Officials denied access on the ground that granting it would have run afoul of the Establishment Clause. After a trial court granted the university's motion for summary judgment, the Eighth Circuit reversed in favor of the group. The Supreme Court then affirmed in favor of the group. The Court reasoned that because university officials recognized more than 100 campus groups, they created an open forum whereby student groups expressing all sorts of views were permitted to use campus facilities. Having created such a forum, the Court declared, officials could not deny recognition to a group based on the content of its views. Further, the Court decided that university officials would not have violated the Establishment Clause simply by granting the religious group the same privileges and benefits that it offered other organizations.

Together, Healy and Widmar set the stage for constitutional litigation by student groups that were banned from participating in campus life based on their viewpoints. In particular, a string of federal cases resolved during the 1970s and 1980s agreed that once administrators at public colleges and universities officially recognized other student groups, they were required to grant the same benefits to organizations of gay students.

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