Should a college student be forced to financially support all student groups, even those organizations whose values the student may not support?

The United States Supreme Court will consider this question today when it hears the arguments surrounding a lawsuit filed in 1996 by a law student at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

The student, Scott Southworth, brought a suit against the university because he was being charged a $15 activity fee that, among other things, funded politically liberal organizations such as Amnesty International, the Campus Women's Center and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Campus Center.

Southworth said he disagreed with a number of these groups' messages.

If the Supreme Court upholds the opinion already rendered by the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, public universities will no longer be able to use mandatory activity fees to finance student groups that are politically driven.

The Circuit Court ruled that compulsory fees are unjust because they can force students to support organizations whose ideologies they find objectionable.

Southworth said he first tried to avoid paying the 1995-96 annual student fees of $ 331.50 by writing a letter to the school administration. When he received no response, Southworth sued along with two other students, alleging that their First Amendment rights of free speech, association and religion had been violated.

The University of Wisconsin's public relations representative Erik A. Christianson, who is currently in Washington attending the court hearing, said his university has stood by its policy regarding the activity fee because it feels the funds have helped "create a forum for free speech" on campus.