Delivering the majority opinion in a 1984 Supreme Court case, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote, “The First Amendment presupposes that the freedom to speak one’s mind is not only an aspect of individual liberty — and thus a good unto itself — but also is essential to the common quest for truth and the vitality of society as a whole.” It is in this vein that we examine the radical, hyperbolic and downright outrageous rhetoric of University of Colorado-Boulder professor Ward Churchill and applaud the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for not rescinding its speaking invitation to him. We also support his home university’s decision to, thus far, not openly pursue the revocation of his tenure.

To be sure, Churchill’s beliefs fall well outside of the mainstream. His characterization of Sept. 11 survivors as “little Eichmanns” is as offensive as it is analogically faulty. His seeming hatred for the country in which he lives — ironically, one of the few countries in which such rhetoric would be allowed — is hypocritical to the nth degree. And his ethos may be even poorer than that of the CU Athletic Department.

But in allowing Churchill to speak, UW-Whitewater is sending the same dignified message long engraved atop Bascom Hill and present in the aforementioned Supreme Court opinion: even the wildest of speech should be carefully considered for its potential merits before being dismissed. It is not the place of the government, CU or UW-Whitewater to tell students that Churchill is wrong; true learning is only achieved when students can reach that conclusion by assessing his merits themselves.

Equally important, the presence of Churchill sends a message to academics of all breeds that their work will, too, be tolerated. With the Colorado professor’s rhetoric falling just shy of the criminal definition of incitement, researchers from Madison to Berkeley may now rest assured that their jobs will not be put in jeopardy because of their conclusions, no matter how radical they may be. This is the sort of freedom-latent environment in which alone academia can prosper, and it is essential to ensure that today’s fired professor not become tomorrow’s Galileo.