After days of fierce criticism for giving a forum to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Columbia University's president came out swinging with his own tough remarks and was rewarded with resounding applause.
"I am only a professor, who is also a university president, and today I feel all the weight of the modern civilized world yearning to express the revulsion at what you stand for," Columbia president Lee Bollinger said to Ahmadinejad on Monday. "I only wish I could do better."
He also said: "Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator."
Bollinger and the school have been attacked for days by politicians who said it was wrong to give the Iranian leader a platform and by Jewish leaders offended by Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust.
On Monday, page-long ads appeared in newspapers lambasting the school's decision. Some state lawmakers said they would carefully examine any future funding requests by the school.
Many students, even those who planned to protest against the visit, had defended the school's right to invite Ahmadinejad, saying it was an issue of academic freedom. Still, many in the audience were impressed with Bollinger's forceful remarks.
"Columbia's reputation was under attack," said Arash Nia, a graduate student at the school's Teacher's College. "By giving that speech he was saying, `We invited you, but we don't agree with what you stand for.' For Columbia, and the world's views of Columbia, it was the perfect thing to say."
The Iranian president did not address Bollinger's accusations directly, instead launching into a long religious talk and criticism of American governments. Some audience members said Bollinger's speech could have been more tactful, and suggested his remarks were so harsh because he was under pressure from the Jewish community.
An English student from nearby Barnard College, Andrea Bachenofen, said that Ahmadinejad "was set up to come across defensively."
"Bollinger's introduction was an attack and one-sided, and it biased students' views before he [Ahmadinejad] could respond," Bachenofen said.
Protests over the event started last week at the school, but Columbia refused to cancel the speech, which was timed with Ahmadinejad's visit for the UN Assembly.
On Monday, crowds gathered at the lecture hall where Ahmadinejad spoke, linking arms and singing traditional Jewish folk songs about peace and brotherhood. Thousands of people jammed two blocks across from the UN to protest Ahmadinejad's visit to the city.
Despite Bollinger's remarks, some stood by their criticism that Ahmadinejad should have never been given the chance to speak.
"I didn't expect Lee Bollinger to say Ahmadinejad is a moderate or he's been misunderstood," City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said. "The forum he provided is the issue. He and his university gave this hate monger an opportunity to speak on one of the most prestigious stages in all the world."
Columbia canceled a planned Ahmadinejad appearance last year, citing security and logistical reasons. Earlier this month, a planned speech at the school by Jim Gilchrist, founder of the anti-illegal immigration Minuteman Project, was canceled, but that was a decision by the student group that sponsored the event, not the university.
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