Shame on Columbia. According to Dean of International and Public Affairs John Coatsworth, "If Hitler were in the United States and wanted a platform from which to speak, he would have plenty of platforms to speak in the United States . If he were willing to engage in debate and a discussion to be challenged by Columbia students and faculty, we would certainly invite him." Well, that makes me feel good about the state of our country, when our best universities are eager and willing to debate a murderous maniacal dictator who put a brutal and sudden end to European Jewry. I suppose it would have been important before we make any moral judgments-God forbid!-to hear Hitler's side of the story. After all, perhaps some Jews wronged him, and he had strong reasons for his just plans. Perhaps the debate would have sounded like this:

Coatsworth: "Well Mr. Hitler, thank you for coming. I know you are very busy over there murdering so many Jews and Poles. I'm glad you could take out time for us. Now, let me ask you, why do you feel like you need to kill so many innocent people? You know, that doesn't fly in this country. You better give a good explanation."

Hitler: "Well, the Jews are simply an inferior race, and we need to create a perfect Aryan race that dominates the world."

Coatsworth: "Okay. I guess then we will simply have to agree to disagree. But that is precisely what makes this country so great. We allow people with all views to come up and give their opinions, even if they are genocidal maniacs. Thanks for coming."

Sadly, in America today, our universities are losing touch with reality. We are so caught up in an elitist bubble that we are blinded by our own sincerity. Morality is no longer a relevant concept. In fact, in universities we are taught that there is no such thing as morality. Thus, our top universities have very few qualms about inviting oppressive dictators to our best campuses.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has incited genocide against the Jewish state, has oppressed members of the Baha'i faith, has put to death homosexuals-which explains why there are "no homosexuals in Iran"-and has aided our enemies in Iraq. Yet our own self-righteousness dictates to us that he should be able to express his ridiculous views in our schools. Frankly, I think this is absurd. There needs to be a line on academic debate drawn, and inviting Ahmadinejad assuredly crosses that line.

It is one thing to invite a controversial speaker to campus with whom many disagree. It is another matter entirely to invite a Holocaust-denying fanatic. For example, there was a lot of controversy about inviting former President Jimmy Carter to speak on our campus last year. As a Zionistic conservative Republican, I am naturally not a big Carter fan. In fact, I think he is probably the worst president this nation has ever had. However, I understand his right to speak here, as well as the need to have different views on campus.

With this understanding, I waited in line last year for two hours in the frigid cold for tickets, and I respectfully sat through his remarks, which I considered na've and silly. While annoyed that this man was being invited to speak at our campus, I understood the legitimacy of his invitation.

Ahmadinejad, however, is a very, very different animal. What is there to debate with him? His speech was used to make him look like an idiot (which it did), but did we not already know this through his previous declarations about the Holocaust and Israel?

Even though Columbia President Lee Bollinger commendably ripped into Ahmadinejad, the damage was already done by the simple invitation to speak at Columbia. After the invitation, it didn't matter what was said. When one receives a forum at a university, he is implicitly receiving legitimacy, and this is inappropriate.

As I said, universities across the nation seemed to have lost any moral compass. Academics and students often live in a bubble that skews their vision. In this academic world, everything is up for debate, nothing is set in stone and everything is upside down.

In this world, murderous dictators deserve to defend their absurd views, while extreme anti-immigration groups on the right like the Minutemen get stormed off the very stage from which Ahmadinejad spoke. What is wrong is right and what is right is wrong, and one is permitted to express any view except for those that disagree with those accepted by the academic world.

As I approach my graduation from college, I fear for the well-being of our country, which is rapidly sliding into moral decay.



The writer is a member of the Class of 2007.