As much as Georgetown students, faculty and administrators take pride in our notable guest speakers—Fran Drescher, anyone?—there’s no denying that we were one-upped when Columbia University hosted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday. The decision to host Ahmadinejad was remarkable not just because he is, in the words of Columbia President Lee Bollinger, “a petty and cruel dictator,” but because of the widespread criticism it provoked.
Although critics alleged that the University legitimized Ahmadinejad by providing a platform for his anti-Semitic and homophobic sentiments, Columbia’s administrators should be praised for hosting him in the face of harsh criticism, exemplifying the ideals of free speech and academic freedom that distinguish the United States from repressive regimes like Iran.
Ahmadinejad is a dangerous bigot, but he’s also an influential world leader who must be questioned and held accountable for his reprehensible ideology. Those who worried that the event might promote Ahmadinejad’s views had little to fear. Bollinger wasted no time in issuing a scathing critique of Ahmadinejad in his introduction, laying out the leader’s horrendous civil rights record, denial of the Holocaust, support of terrorism and dangerous nuclear program.
Ahmadinejad was unsurprisingly evasive during the Q&A portion of the event. But remarks like “In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals, like in your country”—greeted with gales of laughter—prove that the best way to bring Ahmadinejad down is to let people hear his rhetoric and judge it for what it is. The real difference between Iran and the United States is that American universities encourage the open exchange of even the most controversial ideas, so that these ideas can be debated rather than dictated.
Denying Ahmadinejad the opportunity to engage in a debate would be an act characteristic of the Iranian leader himself, who routinely censors and represses academics, journalists and human rights advocates. The United States professes to value freedom of expression above all else, and the ability and willingness to host events like this one give that claim legitimacy.
Hopefully, if faced with a similar situation, Georgetown will follow Columbia’s lead and support free speech and an uncensored exchange of ideas, no matter how abhorrent those ideas might be.
