Ahmadinejad to Speak at Columbia...Not (A Think)

Columbia University's newspaper, The Columbia Spectator is running an article about the fact that the invitation that the dean of the School of International and Public Affairs extended to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been revoked. The invitation was revoked because of security and logistical concerns, not because of what Ahmadinejad would say. The article explains that Columbia University President, "Bollinger said in a statement that it was within the dean's jurisdiction to invite speakers to campus. "Dean Anderson has the right and responsibility to invite speakers whom she believes will add to the academic experience of our students," he wrote."

Lesson Ideas:
1. With younger students, ask them if they think that anybody should have the right to say whatever they want to say. With youngest kids it is probably best to keep the situation as one in which somebody else could be hurt by what is said. The Constitution does not allow people to verbally hurt other people.
2. Tell your students that the Supreme Court of the United States has asked them to interpret the First Amenement of the U.S. Constitution. In groups they should explain what the amendment says and the force it has in American life, today. Wikipedia contains a useful analysis of the First Amendment.
3. This story reports on a situation at one university in the United States, one nation in the world. Yet, I wonder if it has broader implications. Ask students if they think that this story is worthy of consideration beyond Columbia University and New York City. Encourage them to explain what big ideas could come from a consideration of this story. You migth ask them to write a quick blog explaining what big ideas come out of this story.
4. Ask students if they think that Columbia Dean Lisa Anderson should have invited the Iranian President to speak at her school. From the article students should recognize that Ahmadinajed has said that Israel should not exist and he does not believe the Holocaust actually happened. Try to encourage students to consider multiple perspectives. (I most certainly KNOW that the Holocaust did happen. But I could also argue, when forced to do so, why the Iranian President should have the right to speak at Columbia. Even while he might have the right to speak, I would still have the right to protest his presence.) Even if the Iranian President has the right to speak, do students think that Columbia University should have offered him a platform from which to speak? You might want to have students send an email to Columbia Dean Lisa Anderson who extended the invitation. Her email address is la8@columbia.edu.
5. Tell students that Dean Anderson has realized that she should develop a policy for whom she will invite to speak and who she will not invite. She has contracted with them to develop a list of perimeters as to who can be invited to speak in a major auditorium on campus. In groups students should develop a list of at least five criteria as to when a person should be invited to speak. (This exercise does not just need to consider controversial people, but also when somebody has important enough things to say before a group. For example, ask students if they think they merit an invitation to speak in a large auditorium at Columbia University. What would they have to do to merit such an invitation?)

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