Jim Gilchrist

Those of us who were even semi-awake last fall remember the last time Jim Gilchrist and the Minuteman Project came to campus. Promised the kind of provocative conservative voice that would enhance on-campus debate and intellectual inquiry about immigration, we got instead a brawl that pitted student activists against the Minutemen and stirred a media blitz that had every news outlet from Fox News to New York Times decrying Columbia University as intolerant and hostile to ideological diversity.

The Columbia Political Union’s decision not to sponsor an appearance by Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project, came about after several miscommunications regarding the inclusion of Karina Garcia, CC ‘07, according to the president of CPU.

Jim Gilchrist, the controversial former head of the Minuteman Project whose visit to Columbia in fall 2006 ended in a violent and hotly disputed brawl, confirmed that he was invited on Monday to return to campus for a second speaking appearance.