Universities must maintain a good reputation, because sponsors quickly withdraw funding from a university that is the object of bad publicity and the most talented applicants for studentships look elsewhere. University departments should therefore reject any research proposal that might cause offence. Like other organisations, universities should do everything they can to avoid becoming involved in litigation, because fighting a case is very expensive. So they must not take the risk of an offended individual or pressure group taking legal action against them because of a research project.