The power of a university to eliminate bias on campus ultimately depends not on its ability to punish a racist speaker, but instead on the depth of its commitment to the principles of equality and education. No social institution is better suited to fight bigotry than the university. It can do so in its courses and perhaps most importantly through the way it conducts itself as a community. We're not talking about choosing between the First Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment. We're talking about choosing between regulating speech and regulating action.
Murder is illegal.
Talking about it isn't. At its October 1990 meeting, the ACLU Board of Directors unanimously adopted a policy on Free Speech and Bias on College Campuses. The policy does not prohibit colleges from enacting disciplinary codes aimed at restricting acts of harassment, intimidation and invasion of privacy. The ACLU believes the proper response to bigotry is education and speech. The educational forum is where individuals come together to participate in a process of shared inquiry and where the success of that endeavor depends on an atmosphere of openness, intellectual honesty and tolerance for the ideas and opinions of others, even when hateful or offensive.