228
Opinion of the Court
protecting the objecting students' free speech rights was "of heightened concern" following our decision in Rosenberger v. Rector and Visitors of Univ. of Va., 515 U. S. 819 (1995), because "[i]f the university cannot discriminate in the disbursement of funds, it is imperative that students not be compelled to fund organizations which engage in political and ideological activities—that is the only way to protect the individual's rights." 151 F. 3d, at 730, n. 11. The Court of Appeals extended the District Court's order and enjoined the board of regents from requiring objecting students to pay that portion of the fee used to fund RSO's engaged in political or ideological expression. Id., at 735.
Three members of the Court of Appeals dissented from the denial of the University's motion for rehearing en banc. In their view, the panel opinion overlooked the "crucial difference between a requirement to pay money to an organization that explicitly aims to subsidize one viewpoint to the exclusion of other viewpoints, as in Abood and Keller, and a requirement to pay a fee to a group that creates a viewpoint-neutral forum, as is true of the student activity fee here." Southworth v. Grebe, 157 F. 3d 1124, 1129 (CA7 1998) (D. Wood, J., dissenting).
Other courts addressing First Amendment challenges to similar student fee programs have reached conflicting results. Compare Rounds v. Oregon State Bd. of Higher Ed., 166 F. 3d 1032, 1038-1040 (CA9 1999); Hays County Guardian v. Supple, 969 F. 2d 111, 123 (CA5 1992), cert. denied, 506 U. S. 1087 (1993); Kania v. Fordham, 702 F. 2d 475, 480 (CA4 1983); Good v. Associated Students of Univ. of Wash., 86 Wash. 2d 94, 105, 542 P. 2d 762, 769 (1975) (en banc), with Smith v. Regents of Univ. of Cal., 4 Cal. 4th 843, 862-863, 844 P. 2d 500, 513-514, cert. denied, 510 U. S. 863 (1993). These conflicts, together with the importance of the issue presented, led us to grant certiorari. 526 U. S. 1038 (1999). We reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals.
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