Universities in the Western world are generally held to ascribe to certain liberal ideals. They conceive of their basic ends as the pursuit and dissemination of truth, and they maintain that these ends require a climate of liberty and tolerance if they are to be successfully pursued. This commitment to liberality and tolerance has been held to imply an additional commitment to neutrality. A university, so the argument goes, cannot maintain an atmosphere of free and open discussion of significant issues while at the same time taking an official stand on such issues. Thus, the liberal university must be neutral.