The Ivy League schools have given us one more reason to proudly call ourselves Hokies.
In an effort to promote free speech at Columbia University, president Lee Bollinger hosted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak to students and faculty on campus Monday afternoon.
Bollinger claims that despite Ahmadinejad being an ardent Holocaust denier, a supporter of terrorist activities, and a repressive force against human rights, he should still be given a platform to speak.
"But why?" You may ask.
Because Bollinger believes it is his duty to encourage free speech on campus and to allow students to hear from all kinds of leaders, even ones such as Iran's, who calls for Israel to be "wiped off the map."
I agree that it is important for students to be exposed to all different types of people and viewpoints. Unfortunately for Bollinger, however, this is one of the first times he's actually showing any interest in First Amendment rights.
Columbia University has had trouble living up to its goal of freedom of speech in the past. In 2006, Jim Gilchrist, the president of the Minuteman Project, an organization devoted to securing the border to end illegal immigration while at the same time helping to promote legal immigration, was invited to speak on campus during a discussion on immigration. During the event, several students stormed the stage, causing a violent confrontation and an end to the speech.
It is hard to control the passions of a student body, but when event organizers moved to bring Gilchrist back this year for an engaging discussion of immigration, they were met with a great deal of resistance. Last week, the Columbia Political Union retracted Gilchrist's invitation to speak, claiming that they had discussed the event with other student groups and individuals and decided it was not appropriate for Columbia.
The question of what is or is not appropriate doesn't seem to enter into Bollinger's mind. He has come out numerous times in support of Ahmadinejad's appearance but was strangely absent during the discussion of Gilchrist's. It is not just with controversial speakers that Bollinger's case for students' rights falls short.
Here at Virginia Tech we are used to seeing students in ROTC all around campus. Not only do they have their own dorms and training grounds, but they also participate in separate military classes and wear their uniforms almost daily. Our school prides itself on the support and respect given to those individuals who have decided to devote themselves to our country.
Beyond support and respect, however, the most fundamental thing we allow our ROTC is a voice on campus. President Bollinger, supposedly a beacon for free speech, denies that fundamental right to ROTC at Columbia University.
During a vote in 2003, Columbia students came out overwhelmingly in support of allowing ROTC back on campus after it had been kicked off in the late sixties. Despite Columbia students' support of free speech for ROTC recruiters and their programs, the faculty, with Bollinger casting the deciding vote, rejected the reestablishment of an ROTC program on campus.
Why is it that the administration of this Ivy League school supports a dangerous tyrant's free speech yet rejects the ROTC's? According to Columbia's administration, it's because ROTC's values are not in line with the university's due to the military's "Don't ask, don't tell policy," which supposedly discriminates against homosexuals.
I find this perplexing because President Ahmadinejad is the leader of a nation that is at the forefront of the battle against homosexuals. This intolerant nation punishes lesbians with public whippings and sentences gay men to beatings and sometimes execution.
I'll give Bollinger the benefit of the doubt and assume that he must just be overlooking this slight violation of human rights for the greater good of Columbia and the promotion of free speech on campus. If he would like to avoid being labeled a hypocrite, however, perhaps he could show the same backbone in his defense of the Minuteman Project's president and of ROTC's rights on campus.
Someone who has the audacity to admit that they would host Adolph Hitler at Columbia University prior to World War II must be strong enough to defend those who wish to join the ROTC or hear from a leader in the fight against illegal immigration.