Friedersdorf: The Courts Shouldn't Have to Enforce Speech Protections on Universities

Absolutely right:

   Of course, it shouldn’t take a lawsuit to exercise one’s civil rights.
   That’s why, in my estimation, it is not enough for the students to successfully prove, in court, their right to host a drag show, because judges aren’t alone in having a responsibility to protect speech rights. State officials have responsibilities, too. If Wendler persists, the Board of Regents and the chancellor he answers to should fire him for knowingly violating the civil rights of students. His statement—“I will not appear to condone the diminishment of any group at the expense of impertinent gestures toward another group for any reason, even when the law of the land appears to require it”—is incompatible with both his legal and moral obligations to students.