2008 Woodie Awards
Editorial Insight: 'Macalester should be so lucky'
By: Alex Park, News Editor
Issue date: 9/28/07 Section: News
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Editor's Note: This article is one in a series of community-oriented columns written by Mac Weekly editors.
At a university that takes pride in being the only Ivy League institution with its own rabbinical school, the most visible Holocaust denier living today was received as a guest of honor. In a city where the scars of September 11 still run deep, this man - by far a greater supporter of Islamist terror than Saddam ever was - used his diplomatic freedom of movement to travel the length of Manhattan to Morning Side Heights to make the visit. He even asked to visit Ground Zero to pay his respects (the request was denied).
And amid a population of students and faculty who stand as the latest heirs to an institutional tradition more than two centuries old of democracy, free thought and the rights of man, this dictator, who widely suppresses free speech in his own country, was allowed to come and say whatever he wanted to whomever would listen for 90 minutes straight.
As it turned out, that crowd numbered in the hundreds in the auditorium alone, most of whom had waited outside for four hours just to come and see for themselves. Thousands more sat on the lawn outside to watch a live feed projected on a screen two stories tall.
Macalester should be so lucky.
Granted, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of the Islamic Republic of Iran probably doesn't have any reason to come to the Midwest (his visit to Columbia coincided with a previously scheduled visit to the UN General Assembly). Even more problematic is that between Kagin Commons and JBD, the space necessary to accommodate all the students, faculty, alumni and members of the press who would be interested in coming probably doesn't exist. Moreover, the Saint Paul Police are far less equipped to deal with protestors blocking neighborhood streets than their New York counterparts. But aside from these practical matters, what would we have to lose? Beyond that, what would we have to gain?
Let's get one thing straight: Ahmadinejad is the radical leader of one of the most unpredictable, dangerous, and oppressive nations in the world today. On core values considered mainstays at most any college or university, from government transparency to freedom of religion to gay rights, he proudly takes the opposite tack. Some say if he had his way, he would be instigating attacks against Americans right now. A great deal of evidence suggests that in Iraq at least, this is already the case. Needless to say, the man would never find an audience in the U.S. government.
At a university that takes pride in being the only Ivy League institution with its own rabbinical school, the most visible Holocaust denier living today was received as a guest of honor. In a city where the scars of September 11 still run deep, this man - by far a greater supporter of Islamist terror than Saddam ever was - used his diplomatic freedom of movement to travel the length of Manhattan to Morning Side Heights to make the visit. He even asked to visit Ground Zero to pay his respects (the request was denied).
And amid a population of students and faculty who stand as the latest heirs to an institutional tradition more than two centuries old of democracy, free thought and the rights of man, this dictator, who widely suppresses free speech in his own country, was allowed to come and say whatever he wanted to whomever would listen for 90 minutes straight.
As it turned out, that crowd numbered in the hundreds in the auditorium alone, most of whom had waited outside for four hours just to come and see for themselves. Thousands more sat on the lawn outside to watch a live feed projected on a screen two stories tall.
Macalester should be so lucky.
Granted, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of the Islamic Republic of Iran probably doesn't have any reason to come to the Midwest (his visit to Columbia coincided with a previously scheduled visit to the UN General Assembly). Even more problematic is that between Kagin Commons and JBD, the space necessary to accommodate all the students, faculty, alumni and members of the press who would be interested in coming probably doesn't exist. Moreover, the Saint Paul Police are far less equipped to deal with protestors blocking neighborhood streets than their New York counterparts. But aside from these practical matters, what would we have to lose? Beyond that, what would we have to gain?
Let's get one thing straight: Ahmadinejad is the radical leader of one of the most unpredictable, dangerous, and oppressive nations in the world today. On core values considered mainstays at most any college or university, from government transparency to freedom of religion to gay rights, he proudly takes the opposite tack. Some say if he had his way, he would be instigating attacks against Americans right now. A great deal of evidence suggests that in Iraq at least, this is already the case. Needless to say, the man would never find an audience in the U.S. government.
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