It was all at once refreshing, right and surprising to hear Columbia University’s president, Lee C. Bollinger, call out President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday, after he so controversially invited the Iranian head of state to speak on the occasion of his visit to New York City this week.
Hearing Bollinger speak was deeply satisfying, for he articulated that which so many people feel about Ahmadinejad while articulating at the same time so many of the values that we the people of the free world stand for.
In reflecting on this today, I soon found myself wondering whether or not any other university presidents will follow Bollinger’s courageous example. At this late hour it does indeed seem like it would be too late to extend any further invitations, but what about written statements espousing what the various presidents of the free world’s other public schools of learning stand for – specifically with respect to Iran’s current leader, his social policies and various public statements.
As a graduate of the University of Oregon, an institution which prides itself – and so often to the point of controversy – on its freedom of expression, I hereby openly challenge President Dave Frohnmayer to do just that (and I would welcome the students and alumni of other universities in America and beyond to do the same).
So how about it, President Frohnmayer?
Mark Grant
UO Alumnus