Columbia administrators claim that having the Iranian president speak shows the world that the university believes and protects our freedom of speech.

I believe this isn’t true. A four-letter word comes to mind: ROTC.

ROTC isn’t allowed on the Columbia University campus. Students have to attend classes at other colleges in New York City if they partake in it.

Inviting someone who is anti-American, who denied the Holocaust, who claims there are no homosexuals in Iran (which ironically is the same reason ROTC isn’t allowed on campus, because of discrimination against gays and lesbians) is enlightening, but having ROTC on campus is oppressive and discriminatory?

In law school, I learned that when judges make decisions that involve constitutional issues, they often weigh public interests versus the rights protected by the constitution in choosing a course of action.

In this particular case, not inviting the Iranian president doesn’t infringe upon freedom of speech. It does, however, send the message that it’s OK to have the head of a state that sponsors terrorism and is involved in the Iraqi war — in which many Americans are losing their lives — on a college campus expressing his views. On the other hand, public interest is better served by not allowing ROTC a voice at a top institution.

Anita Doberman, Columnist
Clovis News Journal
9/29/07