Controversy at Columbia: Mixed reviews for President's speech

Columbia and Penn students speak out about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's talk

by Rebecca Kaplan | Tuesday, September 25, 2007 at 1:00 am

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It seemed everyone who gathered at Columbia University yesterday had an opinion.

Here's what some people have to say about the remarks by both Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Columbia University President Lee Bollinger:

On Bollinger's introduction:

- "Bollinger's introduction . laid out the case quite well." - Columbia sophomore Jim Downie

- "Bollinger used strong language. . There are parts of the world where people would find what he said disrespectful." - Columbia sophomore Elie Lehmann

- "I was absolutely disgusted" by Bollinger's comments. "It was about as partisan as you can get." - Columbia graduate student Islam Farghaly

On Ahmadinejad's speech:

- It's something I am glad I listened to, but I'm not very happy with what I heard." - Columbia graduate student Kanita Ahmed.

- "I don't think he should be allowed in this country, let alone to speak. He is taking advantage of our rights. It's terrible how many people came out to support him." - Hofstra University sophomore Jason Holtzman

- "I think he was vague in some respects on the woman's rights issues particularly, . [but] I think his position was sound, especially regarding nuclear enrichment." - Farghaly

- "I thought the speech was a great example of free speech, and the ideological confrontation was a great example of Western values." - Downie

Penn student leaders comment:

- "While we would be deeply troubled by President Ahmadinejad's appearance at Penn, we would use such an event to further educate the Penn community about his offensive ideas about Israel and the Holocaust, Iran's active support and involvement in terrorism and the denial of basic human rights and freedoms within Iran."

- Hillel President and College senior Risa Chalfin

- "We would vigorously oppose any presence of Mahmoud Ahmdinejad . on campus and probably would even be involved in any protest that took place."

- Penn Dems President and Wharton junior Clayton Robinson

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