The author discusses the content in John Milton's "Areopagitica: A Speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing to the Parliament of England" (1985) and provides parallelism to censorship practiced in higher education. Originally published in 1644, "Areopagitica" makes a powerful--and precocious--argument for freedom of speech and against censorship in publishing. The author cites several reasons why Milton believes censorship is so antithetical to a free and democratic society in a fourfold argument. These include: (1) where there has been censorship there has also been extreme political repression; (2) the reading of literally anything has some basic, beneficial effects, even the reading of error and untruth; (3) prior restraint is not a practical method for achieving the goals of the censors; and (4) licensing the publishers will have a chilling effect on truth-seeking and knowledge creation, much to the detriment of England, particularly in its attempt to remain economically competitive with the rest of Europe. Based on Milton's arguments, the author discusses the importance of having the great universities allow very wide latitude for their students, faculty, and staff to express themselves freely.