Tammy Bruce: Columbia: Genocide and Holocaust Denial Are "Diverse" Ideas

Columbia: Genocide and Holocaust Denial Are "Diverse" Ideas

This editorial by the Columbia Spectator illustrates perfectly how nihilistic existentialism has completely obliterated any sort of rational critical thinking at the American academy. Astounding.

A Prudent Invitation

Late Wednesday afternoon, students were informed that the President of Iran would be speaking on campus next Monday. The announcement has understandably caused a stir on campus—and around the country—as students, alumni and faculty debate the merits of bringing such a controversial speaker to campus. A University has an obligation to provide its students opportunities to deepen their knowledge and understanding of world events. Columbia has done as much through its invitation of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and should be commended for a decision that will earn it few favors in the public eye...

President Ahmadinejad’s repression of student protest, denial of the Holocaust, and systematic human rights abuses are reprehensible. However, the University’s invitation is not an endorsement of these positions, nor does it legitimize Iran’s designated head of state. We may deplore the fact such a vile man has been elevated to the international stage—as we should—but to deny his status as a political leader would be foolish. Rather, the University’s invitation prevents a rare opportunity for students to encounter ideas that run completely counter to their values and sensibilities.

An educated student body must be willing to be challenged by diverse and upsetting ideas, and Columbia’s invitation to the President has provided just such an opportunity. However, now that the University has extended this invitation, administrators must ensure that as many students as possible can benefit from this opportunity...

Apparently, Columbia's commitment to exposing students to "diverse ideas" only extends to Jew-hating genocidal maniacs. Just days ago the Columbia Political Union has un-invited Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist.

Jim Gilchrist, founder of the anti-immigration Minuteman Project who was forced off a Columbia University stage last year, will not be coming back for a return engagement at the school.

The Columbia Political Union, a nonpartisan student group that had been planning the forum, said in a statement on its Web site today that "it has become clear that this event cannot take the form we had originally hoped it would and could not effectively accomplish the goals we had hoped it might."

Last October 4, Mr. Gilchrist had to cut short his talk at the school after students from the Chicano Caucus and other groups climbed on stage with banners denouncing the Minutemen Project, which is based in Laguna Hills, Calif., and advocates action to prevent illegal immigration from Mexico.

In the meantime, the New York Sun explores what the real problem at Columbia is--not just President Bollinger, but the entire Board of Trsutees.

The real problem at Columbia is the group that is President Ahmadinejad's real host — the 24 members of the university's board of trustees. This is a group that has, throughout the long slog of anti-Israel agitation and occasional anti-Semitism on the campus, refused to take a public stand. We number several of them among our friends. We admire many of them. But as a group, they have let New York down and, were Columbia not a self-perpetuating board, would have lost the trust they were given. There is no difference between going to ground zero and going to Columbia, except that the governing body of the former has a deeper understanding of what it means for a country to be at war than the governing body of the other.

Comment by Maynard

When a reprehensible argument appears on the surface to be reasonable, you've got to look for the joker in the deck. There's usually a ridiculous underlying assumption that you have implicitly accepted without realizing it. Case in point: Yes, there is some merit to the argument that we should be exposed to "diverse and upsetting ideas". For example, if Ahmadinejad were saying that Hitler's murdering the Jews was a good thing, then that would arguably constitute a "diverse and upsetting idea". But to allege that the Holocaust never happened is not an idea, it's a lie. It's not a matter of opinion; it happened. This perceived obligation to propagate the evil deceits of a genocidal maniac is not the hallmark of an elite educational establishment, but rather the sign of a lunatic asylum. —Maynard

Comments

As you accurately point out, two different organizations invited Achmadinijad and the Minutemen Project. So it's not that the university is necessarily being inconsistent, though the Columbia board could've given its students the courtesy of inviting the Minutemen back after their event was so rudely disrupted. Where Columbia failed is in providing adequate security for the Minutemen event in the first place. They never apologized for that either.

Posted by: piboulder at September 22, 2007 05:07 PM

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