A Matter of Principle

As protesters, the media, and a nation’s attentions turn to Columbia, today’s appearance on campus of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is poised to become a watershed moment in the narrative of free speech for a university and its president.

With some notable exceptions, Wednesday’s announcement that the University had extended an invitation to Ahmadinejad—known for human rights abuses and hostility towards Israel and the U.S.—has generated a steady stream of negative publicity for Columbia in mainstream outlets.

The brunt of the criticism has been leveled at University President Lee Bollinger. By no means uncontroversial before the invitation, Bollinger has become the conservative media’s poster child for liberal irresponsibility, repeatedly slammed as a coward and a “pinhead” by Bill O’Reilly and condemned in at least three major New York dailies.

Yet for Bollinger, the controversy goes beyond this week’s speech. He has defended Ahmadinejad’s invitation as a matter of conscience, maintaining that it was informed by the values he champions as a First Amendment scholar.

“It’s been my absolute determination and commitment to act ... according to principle,” Bollinger said at a University Senate meeting on Friday. “We should not have an exception to that that says there are some ideas that are so offensive that we should not entertain them.”

Columbia and Bollinger came under fire over free speech last fall, after Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist’s speech was interrupted when a group of protesters rushed the stage. Some speculate that Bollinger’s invitation to Ahmadinejad is an attempt to reclaim an atmosphere of academic tolerance.

Bollinger said he views universities as key venues for exposing the whole spectrum of academic thought. “We must have a very robust commitment to entertain and confront all of the world in all of its ugliness and its beauty,” he said at the meeting, comparing barring offensive speakers to removing controversial books from Butler shelves or excising provocative courses from the curriculum.

As debate over Bollinger’s rationale continues, the invitation will likely be a defining moment in his presidency, influencing the University’s reputation of academic legitimacy and perhaps revealing whether Columbia can tolerate the extremes of free speech.

Ahmadinejad’s invitation comes hot on the heels of Bollinger’s vocal condemnation of the British University and College Union’s boycott of all Israeli institutions this summer on the grounds of academic freedom. Wednesday’s announcement demonstrates the consistency of Columbia’s president’s support of free speech with regard to all of the Middle East.

“Columbia has had its reputation tarnished recently over academics,” said Kaveh Ehsani, a research scholar at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and a member of the editorial boards of Middle Eastern publications. “This [Ahmadinejad’s appearance] will improve the college’s reputation. Lobbying forces always want to shut down the possibility of debate.”

“Bollinger, by standing up for academic freedom, is enhancing his reputation and the reputation of Columbia as a higher educational institution to take some hard lines on the [academic freedom] front,” said Mary Ann Tétreault, a professor of international affairs at Trinity University and a member of the Middle Eastern Studies Association’s committee on academic freedom.

Facing pressure from many political groups, Bollinger has emphasized that the academic goals of the event must be protected from political influence. With an event that has found few allies in the national media, Bollinger must consider those he will depend on to achieve his fund-raising and expansion goals.

Given that Columbia has over a quarter of a million alumni, Eric Furda, vice president of university development and alumni relations, stressed their significance but acknowledged that their views should not be the “sole litmus test when decisions are being made.”

Some alumni argue financial dependence on alumni should guarantee them a bigger voice in University decisions.

Ariel Beery, GS ’05, who started a petition protesting Columbia’s decision that now includes over 500 names, said he will cut ties with Columbia until those responsible for Ahmadinejad’s appearance are removed from their positions.

According to Bradley Bloch, SEAS ’83, CC ’84, and outgoing alumni senator, such stances are rare among alumni. “There will be very few alumni who will over the long term change their feeling about the University because of this,” he said, noting that the event is only one in an alumnus’s lifelong relationship with Columbia.

While Furda said responses have been far from balanced—with more alumni voicing concern than support—he believes there are many keeping their views to themselves. “I’m sure there’s a group that feels differently that we’re just not hearing from ... who don’t want to voice it because there are so many people who are extremely upset in a negative way.”

One parent of a prospective Columbia student, who declined to be named, echoed Furda’s concerns. “He [Ahmadinejad] has an absolute right to say what he thinks, even if it is appalling. ... I would be more likely to send my kid to Columbia [since the invitation], but I realize I have a minority view.”

Bollinger’s justification for allowing Ahmadinejad to speak as a critical exercise of academic freedom has swayed some alumni, while others remain unconvinced.

“It is essential that the people we’re training at SIPA are exposed and confront people like the president of Iran,” Bloch said. “My feeling is we should be bringing all the hard cases here—we shouldn’t at all be fearful of doing that.”

Beery, though, argued that Ahmadinejad’s views on the Holocaust are so academically negligent that giving him a platform can only diminish Columbia’s educational standards and create a precedent of tolerating flawed scholarship and hateful messages.

No matter the immediate response, the full repercussions of Ahmadinejad’s appearance will likely be felt for years to come.

Shane Ferro, Ali Krimmer and Melissa Repko contributed to this article.
The authors of this article can be reached at news@columbiaspectator.com.