Oct
1, 2002 - The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh
Circuit upheld the student fee allocation system at the
University of Wisconsin. With this decision, the court overturned
a lower court decision that the student fee allocation process
at UW-Madison does not adhere to the standard of viewpoint-neutrality
as articulated by a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court in Board
of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System v. Southworth
(2000).
In its
landmark ruling in the first Southworth case, the U.S. Supreme
Court affirmed the right of colleges and universities to
fund student organizations through allocating mandatory
student fees and cited the crucial role that these funds
play in furthering the educational mission of colleges and
universities by fostering a diverse marketplace of ideas
among students. The Court determined that the allocation
of student fees must simply follow a viewpoint-neutral process,
allowing each student group an opportunity to apply for
and receive funding regardless of the opinions or ideologies
of its membership or activities.
This
new ruling affirms the original Supreme Court decision and
upholds the funding system administered by the Associated
Students of Madison at the University of Wisconsin.
Click
here to read the full text of the opinion.