The director of Cal State University of San Bernardino’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism says conservatives are “passively and actively discriminated against” on college campuses.

Professor Brian Levin said, “With regard to speaking on college campuses, conservatives are thoroughly well positioned with their contention that there is both passive and active discrimination against them.”

Levin has previously worked as an attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center and now works as a criminology professor.

Talking to The College Fix, he said that “we can’t just give lip service to diversity of ideas. The academia has to realize that there are people of goodwill on both sides, and they have an obligation to respect the entire spectrum of viewpoints.”

He added that all kinds of speech must be allowed, even if the message conveyed is a hateful one.

On the center’s website, Levin explains, “As the son of a Nazi-era POW and grandson of immigrants from totalitarian regimes, I have the same appreciation that most Americans share for the special gift that our system of civil, yet uncensored, discourse has given to the world.”

His comments come at a time where the debate around free speech on campuses is particularly contentious as some students try to prevent others from talking, citing their need for a “safe space” from speakers they do not agree with.

Breitbart Tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos, a self confessed conservative, has repeatedly faced attempts to stop him from conveying his message by left-wing students as part of his ‘Dangerous Faggot Tour’ of college campuses.

You can follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at ben@yiannopoulos.net.