Clash between the First Amendment and Civil Rights: Public University Nondiscrimination Clauses, The

Individual rights have become increasingly important in this country in the past few decades. University campuses across the country form part of the current bedrock of this movement. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that public universities,\u27 the closest representative of the government to college students, are the subject of much of the pressure to enact rules protecting the rights, viewpoints, and actions of minority members of society. Universities originally intended that nondiscrimination clauses ensure student groups recognized by the university did not exercise improper prejudices based on gender, nationality, or religious belief. Recently, however, the gay rights movement has placed intense pressure on universities to include sexual orientation on the list of protected classes. The ultimate question is which of the conflicting civil liberties existing in this context will trump the other