In March, the Supreme Court handed down a decision in a case which could have had profound effects on the manner by which student governments allocate funds to campus organizations.

In Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin vs. Southworth, the Court held that a public university may charge students mandatory fees to fund political and ideological student organizations if the allocation of the funds is administered with a neutral viewpoint.

Scott Southworth, a devout Christian, and other students had filed suit against the university and won in the lower courts. The $330 mandatory fee, charged separately from tuition, was being used to fund organizations Southworth and the others found highly objectionable. These included the Lambda League and the International Socialist Organization. He argued his forced funding of these groups amounted to a violation of his First Amendment rights.