Free speech at universities received a boost from the Supreme Court this week.

The Supreme Court Wednesday upheld the student fees system at the University of Wisconsin and said fee money can go to groups even if students disapprove of specific organizations.

The justices, in an unusual unanimous decision, ruled that doling out student fee money even to groups of a political nature does not infringe upon student rights. Even if a student doesn’t agree with the issues presented by a specific campus organization, his or her student fee money can still go to that group.

Regardless of whether the group is the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Ally Alliance or the Campus Crusade for Christ, it is allowed to receive student fees.

“The university may determine that its mission is well served if students have the means to engage in dynamic discussions of philosophical, religious, scientific, social, and political subjects in their extracurricular campus life outside the lecture hall,” wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy for the court. “If the university reaches this conclusion, it is entitled to impose a mandatory fee to sustain an open dialogue to these ends.”

This court is not known for liberal decisions, to say the least. Such a unified ruling should prove that free speech is not just a “liberal” idea but an idea that everyone should be embracing.

The ruling also is causing college administrators across the country to breathe a collective sigh of relief, as it means state schools won’t have to revamp their student fees systems, many of which mirrored that of the University of Wisconsin.

An alternative to current student fees structures could have been a “check-off” system that would have allowed students to designate certain organizations to which they didn’t want their money going.

This would have been a colossally bad idea.

Yes, people should have the right to speak — or not speak — in whatever ways they want. But at a university, all points of view should be fostered so students have the opportunity to engage in open discourse about every topic.

In fact, universities have the responsibility to provide means for that open communication.

Some people may believe they have the right to say, “I don’t like that group; they can’t get any of my student fees.” But each group, no matter what its viewpoint, is adding to every student’s education.

Even if you don’t like the LGBTAA — particularly if you don’t like the LGBTAA — its existence makes you think harder and defend your positions on gay issues.

And that’s what a university is for.

Iowa State Daily Editorial Board: Sara Ziegler, Greg Jerrett, Kate Kompas, Carrie Tett and David Roepke.