Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/09pdf/08-1371.pdf
Page Number: 47.0

Cite as:  561 U. S. ____ (2010) 

3 

KENNEDY, J., concurring 

place.  Many  educational  institutions,  including  respon-
dent  Hastings  College  of  Law,  have  recognized  that  the 
process  of  learning  occurs  both  formally  in  a  classroom 
setting and informally outside of it.  See id., at 233.  Stu-
dents  may  be  shaped  as  profoundly  by  their  peers  as  by 
their teachers.  Extracurricular activities, such as those in 
the Hastings “Registered Student Organization” program,
facilitate interactions between students, enabling them to
explore  new  points  of  view,  to  develop  interests  and  tal-
ents, and to nurture a growing sense of self.  See Board of 
Ed.  of  Independent  School  Dist.  No.  92  of  Pottawatomie 
Cty. v. Earls, 536 U. S. 822, 831, n. 4 (2002) (participation
in extracurricular activities is “ ‘a significant contributor to
the  breadth  and  quality  of  the  educational  experience’ ”).
The  Hasting  program  is  designed  to  allow  all  students  to 
interact  with  their  colleagues  across  a  broad,  seemingly
unlimited  range  of  ideas,  views,  and  activities.  See  Re-
gents  of  Univ.  of  Cal.  v.  Bakke,  438  U.  S.  265,  312,  313, 
n. 48 (1978) (opinion of Powell, J.) (“[A] great deal of learn-
ing  . . .  occurs  through  interactions  among  students  . . . 
who have a wide variety of interests, talents, and perspec-
tives;  and  who  are  able,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  learn
from  their  differences  and  to  stimulate  one  another  to 
reexamine even their most deeply held assumptions about 
themselves  and  their  world”  (alteration  in  original;  inter-
nal quotation marks omitted)).

Law  students  come  from  many  backgrounds  and  have
but  three  years  to  meet  each  other  and  develop  their 
skills.  They  do  so  by  participating  in  a  community  that
teaches  them  how  to  create  arguments  in  a  convincing, 
rational, and respectful manner and to express doubt and
disagreement in a professional way.  A law school furthers 
these  objectives  by  allowing  broad  diversity  in  registered
student organizations.  But these objectives may be better 
achieved  if  students  can  act  cooperatively  to  learn  from
and  teach  each  other  through  interactions  in  social  and