Opinion ID: 556562
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Our Suggested And Applied Balance

Text: 51 Because there are no cases satisfactorily on point with this one to adopt as controlling, we must frame our own analysis to determine the sufficiency of the University's interests in restricting Dr. Bishop's expression in the classroom. The balance we suggest, though somewhat amorphous, takes as its polestar Kuhlmeier 's concern for the basic educational mission of the school which gives it authority by the use of reasonable restrictions over in-class speech that it could not censor outside the classroom. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. at 266-67, 108 S.Ct. at 567-68 (citations omitted). 52 [W]e conclude that the standard articulated in Tinker for determining when a school may punish student expression need not also be the standard for determining when a school may refuse to lend its name and resources to the dissemination of student [or professor] expression. Instead, we hold that educators do not offend the First Amendment by exercising editorial control over the style and content of student [or professor] speech in school-sponsored expressive activities so long as their actions are reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns. 53 This standard is consistent with our oft-expressed view that the education of the Nation's youth is primarily the responsibility of parents, teachers, and state and local school officials, and not of federal judges. 54 Id. at 272-73, 108 S.Ct. at 570-71 (footnotes and citations omitted). Kuhlmeier, like most cases we have encountered, dealt with students at the secondary level. Yet, insofar as it covers the extent to which an institution may limit in-school expressions which suggest the school's approval, we adopt the Court's reasoning as suitable to our ends, even at the university level. 55 In an effort to calibrate the Constitution in this case, we contemplate much. First and foremost, we consider the context: the university classroom during specific in-class time and the visage of the classroom as part of a university course in an after-class meeting. This context also leads us to consider the coercive effect upon students that a professor's speech inherently possesses and that the University may wish to avoid. The University's interest is most obvious when student complaints suggest apparent coercion--even when not intended by the professor. 56 Second, it follows, we consider the University's position as a public employer which may reasonably restrict the speech rights of employees more readily than the those of other persons. As a place of schooling with a teaching mission, we consider the University's authority to reasonably control the content of its curriculum, particularly that content imparted during class time. Tangential to the authority over its curriculum, there lies some authority over the conduct of teachers in and out of the classroom that significantly bears on the curriculum or that gives the appearance of endorsement by the university. 57 Last and somewhat countervailing, we consider the strong predilection for academic freedom as an adjunct of the free speech rights of the First Amendment. There are abundant cases which acclaim academic freedom. Perhaps the most applicable is Keyishian v. Board of Regents, 385 U.S. 589, 87 S.Ct. 675, 17 L.Ed.2d 629 (1967), in which Justice Brennan wrote: 58 Our Nation is deeply committed to safeguarding academic freedom, which is of transcendent value to all of us and not merely to the teachers concerned. That freedom is therefore a special concern of the First Amendment, which does not tolerate laws that cast a pall of orthodoxy over the classroom. The vigilant protection of constitutional freedoms is nowhere more vital than in the community of American schools. The classroom is peculiarly the marketplace of ideas. The Nation's future depends upon leaders trained through wide exposure to that robust exchange of ideas which discovers truth out of a multitude of tongues, [rather] than through any kind of authoritative selection. 59 Id. at 603, 87 S.Ct. at 683-84 (citations omitted). Keyishian dealt with that brand of regulation most offensive to a free society: loyalty oaths. The Court's pronouncements about academic freedom in that context, however, cannot be extrapolated to deny schools command of their own courses. As this court has said in a case deciding the power of the University to regulate student government elections: 60 The University judgment on matters such as this should be given great deference by federal courts. This Court should honor the traditional reluctance to trench on the prerogatives of state and local educational institutions. Regents of University of Michigan v. Ewing, 474 U.S. 214, 226, 106 S.Ct. 507, 514, 88 L.Ed.2d 523 (1985). The reason for this is that [a]cademic freedom thrives not only on the independent and uninhibited exchange of ideas among teachers and students, but also, and somewhat inconsistently, on autonomous decisionmaking by the academy itself. Id. at 226 n. 12, 106 S.Ct. at 514 n. 12. (citations omitted). In the present case, and in other school cases raising similar First Amendment challenges, these principles translate into a degree of deference to school officials who seek to reasonably regulate speech and campus activities in furtherance of the school's educational mission. 61 Alabama Student Party, 867 F.2d at 1347; see also Virgil v. School Bd. of Columbia County, Fla., 862 F.2d 1517, 1520 (11th Cir.1989) ([i]n matters pertaining to the curriculum, educators have been accorded greater control over expression than they may enjoy in other spheres of activity.) (citing Kuhlmeier ). 62 Though we are mindful of the invaluable role academic freedom plays in our public schools, particularly at the post-secondary level, we do not find support to conclude that academic freedom is an independent First Amendment right. And, in any event, we cannot supplant our discretion for that of the University. Federal judges should not be ersatz deans or educators. In this regard, we trust that the University will serve its own interests as well as those of its professors in pursuit of academic freedom. University officials are undoubtedly aware that quality faculty members will be hard to attract and retain if they are to be shackled in much of what they do. 63 With these considerations in mind, we turn to the case at hand. The University, by its memo from Dr. Westerfield, responded to complaints about Dr. Bishop's religious references by some of his students and, therefore, restricted the instructional activities of Dr. Bishop as to religious intimations. The restrictions placed on Dr. Bishop by the University were that he refrain from 1) the interjection of religious beliefs and/or preferences during instructional time periods and 2) the optional classes where a 'Christian Perspective' of an academic topic is delivered. Record Excerpt at 15. 64 We read the memo's restrictions narrowly because they implicate First Amendment freedoms. They apply only to the classroom speech of Dr. Bishop--wherever he purports to conduct a class for the University. At those times and places, he may not interject his religious views into the course material. Of course, if a student asks about his religious views, he may fairly answer the question. Under the memo, the University seeks only to prevent Dr. Bishop from making assertions about his religious beliefs vis-a-vis the subject matter of his courses. 65 Dr. Bishop has expressed certain personal (perhaps even professional) opinions about his work that happen to have a religious source. 7 The University has concluded that those opinions should not be represented in the courses he teaches at the University. The University has not suggested that Dr. Bishop cannot hold his particular views; express them, on his own time, far and wide and to whomever will listen; or write and publish, no doubt authoritatively, on them; nor could it so prohibit him. The University has simply said that he may not discuss his religious beliefs or opinions under the guise of University courses. 66 The University's chief concern is that its courses be taught without personal religious bias unnecessarily infecting the teacher or the students. Dr. Bishop's interest in academic freedom and free speech do not displace the University's interest inside the classroom. Contrary to the district court, Bishop, 732 F.Supp. at 1568, we find that the University's interests in the classroom conduct of its professors are sufficient, in the balance we have suggested, to warrant the reasonable restrictions it has imposed on Dr. Bishop. Under the analysis by which we have examined the University's action, we do not discover an infringement of Dr. Bishop's free speech rights. 67 As for the after-class meetings, the University has concluded that meetings on the evidence of God in human physiology or from a Christian perspective cannot be conducted by Dr. Bishop in a manner that connects them to the courses he teaches. The University has not suggested that Dr. Bishop cannot organize such meetings, make notice of them on campus, or request University space to conduct them; nor could it so prohibit him. The University has simply said he may not hold such meetings as classes related to the courses he teaches. The phrasing optional class or optional meeting and the scheduling before finals gave the impression of official sanction, which might have unduly pressured students into attending and, at least for purposes of examination, into adopting the beliefs expressed by Dr. Bishop. The University may seek to avoid these consequences, even where unintended. Conversely, when Dr. Bishop makes it plain to his students that such meetings are not mandatory, not considered part of the course work, and not related to grading, the University cannot prevent him from conducting such meetings, nor has it. 68 Fairly read, the phrasing optional classes in the University's memo plainly requires Dr. Bishop to completely disassociate such meetings from his courses. This simple restriction, put into the applicable balance we have outlined, is reasonable and supported by sufficient University interests as we have indicated. Again, we do not discover an infringement of Dr. Bishop's free speech rights. 69 In short, Dr. Bishop and the University disagree about a matter of content in the courses he teaches. The University must have the final say in such a dispute. Though Dr. Bishop's sincerity cannot be doubted, his educational judgment can be questioned and redirected by the University when he is acting under its auspices as a course instructor, but not when he acts as an independent educator or researcher. The University's conclusions about course content must be allowed to hold sway over an individual professor's judgments. By its memo to Dr. Bishop, the University seeks to prevent him from presenting his religious viewpoint during instructional time, even to the extent that it represents his professional opinion about his subject matter. We have simply concluded that the University as an employer and educator can direct Dr. Bishop to refrain from expression of religious viewpoints in the classroom and like settings.