Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/09pdf/08-1371.pdf
Page Number: 73.0

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

25 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

tions  and  Students  §34.10  (June  22,  1990)  (hereinafter 
Hastings Regulations).  Access to the forum is not limited 
to groups devoted to particular purposes.  The regulations
provide that a group applying for registration must submit 
an official document including “a statement of its purpose,” 
id.,  at  83a  (Hastings  Regulations  §34.10.A.1  (emphasis
added)), but the regulations make no attempt to define the 
limits  of  acceptable  purposes.    The  regulations  do  not 
require a group seeking registration to show that it has a
certain number of members or that its program is of inter-
est to any particular number of Hastings students.  Nor do 
the regulations require that a group serve a need not met
by existing groups. 

The regulations also make it clear that the registration
program  is  not  meant  to  stifle  unpopular  speech.    They
proclaim  that  “[i]t  is  the  responsibility  of  the  Dean  to
ensure  an  ongoing  opportunity  for  the  expression  of  a 
variety  of  viewpoints.”  Id.,  at  82a  (Hastings  Regulations 
§33.11).  They  also  emphatically  disclaim  any  endorse-
ment  of  or  responsibility  for  views  that  student  groups 
may express.  Id., at 85a (Hastings Regulations §34.10.D). 
Taken  as  a  whole,  the  regulations  plainly  contemplate
the  creation  of  a  forum  within  which  Hastings  students 
are  free  to  form  and  obtain  registration  of  essentially  the 
same broad range of private groups that nonstudents may 
form off campus.  That is precisely what the parties in this 
case stipulated: The RSO forum “seeks to promote a diver-
sity of viewpoints among registered student organizations, 
including  viewpoints  on  religion  and  human  sexuality.” 
App. 216 (emphasis added).

The  way  in  which  the  RSO  forum  actually  developed 
corroborates  this  design.  As  noted,  Hastings  had  more 
than 60 RSOs in 2004–2005, each with its own independ-
ently  devised  purpose.  Some  addressed  serious  social 
issues;  others—for  example,  the  wine  appreciation  and 
ultimate  Frisbee  clubs—were  simply  recreational.    Some