Watch out for Tilghman's focus on making Princeton an international university. She plans to redefine the standards of what this means for others still chasing their tails.
 

What is Bollinger up to? He just signed a multimillion dollar deal with Spike Lee to embarass this country over Katrina. And he is giving hundreds of thousands of copies of a book and a DVD for free to classroom teachers to teach this stuff.

http://teachingthelevees.org/index.php?page_id=10
 

Musta been a slow week at Harvard.
 

I just checked that link at Columbia and it's surely spooky. What are they trying to do? incite an uprising?
 

Columbia sure has guts. Next thing you know they'll invite Larry Summers.
 

perhaps they have more guts than brains
 

I guess we should all be relieved Harvard didn't choose Bollinger as president here!
 

Columbia's Dean says he would invite Hitler too.

Columbia University has been criticized for inviting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak Monday on campus:


“According to John Coatsworth, interim dean of the School of International and Public Affairs, Ahmadinejad expressed interest in speaking at Columbia in the past month to history Professor Richard Bulliet, communicating through Iran’s United Nations ambassador. When Ahmadinejad agreed to the conditions of speaking at the World Leaders Forum, such as answering spectators’ questions, the engagement was confirmed.

“Opportunities to hear, challenge, and learn from controversial speakers of different views are central to the education and training of students for citizenship in a shrinking and still dangerous world,” Coatsworth said in a statement.”

Now Dean Coatsworth has expanded on this: Columbia would have invited Hitler to speak:

“Professor John Coatsworth, interim dean of the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, tells Fox News, “If he [Hitler] were willing to engage in a debate and a discussion to be challenged by Columbia students and faculty, we would certainly invite him.”

This may not be the best way to convince the American public that Ahmadinejad is a good choice.

– DRJ

http://patterico.com/2007/09/22/columbia-only-invited-ahmadinejad-because-hitler-was-unavailable/
 

Would Dean Coatsworth and President Bollinger invite
Iranian-American scholar Kian Tajbakhsh, a Columbia Graduate, to attend the presentation of allow her to ask questions? She must have pondered over many issues during the months she was imprisoned, along with 3 other american scholars, in Iran.

Does Columbia commitment to free speech and to the free exchange of ideas extend also to those who challenge regimes that sponsor terror?
 

Sort of a silly comment. Of course they'd invite her. If you look at Bollinger's record, he's consistent on this principle, even if/when you disagree with him.
 

There are complex issues at play here. Would you extend the freedoms of a democratic society, including the freedom to voice their ideas, to those who promote values that are counter to basic democratic values? Say to those inciting hatred?

Should neo-nazis have the right to express their views freely? Should the Ku Klux Klan be allowed to recruit in University campuses? Should supremacist groups be allowed to publicly display symbols that are clearly associated with an ideology and with actions that have resulted in the extermination of racial groups?

It is possible that Bollinger and his colleagues have thought deeply about these issues. Since they are now on record indicating that they would provide a forum to Adolf Hitler, who represents to many an ideology and actions that resulted in genocide, perhaps they should make their thinking explicit and truly contribute to democratic debate about the role of the University in a democratic society.
 

Very poor analogy used by Dean Coatsworth considering that their guest has publicly called for the destruction of Israel and supports terrorist organizations involved in genocide.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxmEGsOkEVc
 

What would you suggest, 10:36?
 

This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
 

Enough with the rhetorical questions, please. If you have a point, make it. Otherwise, I'll delete.
 

Um, terrorists don't do genocide. If they could do genocide they wouldn't have to resort to terror.

Also, the lousiness of the example is obviously on purpose -- "Hell, we'd invite Hitler himself!" That outrageousnees is the whole point, and it shows a willingness to link Ahmadinejad with Hitler that concedes much of the framing of the episode to the right wing (as 9:51 points out). Won't help academia in the Long Struggle against anti-intellectualism, but is perfectly consistent and not a gaffe.

"Should neo-nazis have the right to express their views freely?"

Yes. What country do you think this is? Dumbass.


Standing Eagle


PS. Allowing people to speak of course isn't the same as inVITing them to speak. But let's start with the basic civic concepts, people, shall we? Those are the things we're supposed to be representing against the shari'a imposers, remember?
 

Dilbert frenzy:

http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/09/a-feeling-im-be.html