Universities Deserve Special Standing

Universities, and especially our research universities, are charged with the mission of discovering, preserving, and passing on knowledge. And, as such, the Supreme Court has over time acknowledged that these qualities entitle universities to a special standing within First Amendment jurisprudence. Several other decisions denied a special right of access for the press to government facilities (prisons, in those cases). It is true that the “press” is explicitly mentioned in the First Amendment, and “universities” are not, but there are many reasons consistent with First Amendment jurisprudence to justify affording universities a comparable special role. Universities and university leaders need to become more deliberate about undergirding and explaining this special role.