It's a truth universally acknowledged that, with the exception of, like, Bob Jones University, institutions of higher education are generally more progressive than the world outside their gates. But all the idealistic hippie students who came of age in the '60s and later became idealistic hippie professors are now retiring. The younger professors replacing them still disproportionately vote Democratic, but they are "less ideologically polarized and more politically moderate": 17.2% of the 50-64 age group define themselves as "liberal activists," versus 1.3% of professors 35 and younger. Sara Goldrick-Rab, a 31-year-old professor, told the New York Times, "My generation is not so ideologically driven" and the article credits the rise of civil discourse over fractious infighting. Read the rest of this entry »

Just when we thought Lee Bollinger hadn't done anything in the past month or two to inflame various Columbia constituencies, here comes a reminder that all is not well in Columbia-land.

In honor of the Jewish Festival of Purim - in which my people get drunk and dress up in costumes to celebrate their deliverance from annihilation in ancient Persia - the advocacy group Bnei Haman, founded to protest Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's September visit to  campus, is distributing masks of President Bollinger and President Ahmadinejad ("Bnei Haman" is literally translated as "children of Haman" - Haman being the villain of the Purim story, the man who sought to destroy the Jewish people).  According to Bnei Haman - who are planning an extensive Purim masquerade ball, mainly involving effigies of Bollinger -  the organization has received over 2,000 requests for Bollinger masks from around the world, from places as far-flung as Kazakhstan (is this another joke? Borat maks?). A spokesman declared:

The Ahmadinejad-Bollinger speech was broadcast around the globe and its lasting impact can't be overstated. The fact that individuals in the former Soviet East Block want to share in our Purim festivities demonstrates that the fight against evil knows no boundaries."

Sure, the fight against evil might no know boundaries, but your sense of boundaries knows no sense of proportion.

After the jump: some very weird stuff from the Bnei Haman blog.
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Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA) -- who fantasizes that he will someday be president, if the Romney clone-family militia doesn't take him out first -- has introduced legislation to cut Columbia's access to federal grants as punishment for last week's Ahmadinejad circus.

The Restore Patriotism to America's Campuses Act would deny Columbia's $458 million annual Fed allowance, reports Inside Higher Ed. Hunter's press release argues that Columbia's hospitality "lends credibility" to A-Jad's "antics," just as old Mrs. Wilson's cookies foolishly encouraged the "antics" of Dennis the Menace. "State-sanctioned terrorists say the darndest things!" he concludes. Ok, fine, here's what ba-dunk-a-Dunc really said:

I believe this legislation is an appropriate and reasonable response to an institution that welcomes a sponsor of terrorism while saying no to our nation's collegiate military training and recruitment program. ... If Columbia University wants to continue hosting our adversaries while turning its back on our military, then U.S. taxpayers should not be required to support the University's programs.

In case there's any confusion, Congressman Hunter is the one Ann Coulter supports, likely because both are fans of loud, pointless publicity stunts. There's no way an attack on Columbia's coffer will make it out of committee.

Full-text of Dunc the Donut's so-called legislation after the jump.

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Ed: No, but seriously, enough with this schlemiel. To conclude our coverage of Ahmadinejad's visit to Columbia, here's Columbia miscreant J.D. Porter again with a roundup of the reactions in the news and on campus. Hopefully Lee Bollinger won't take offense at one of J.D.'s statements and yell at him, but that's his problem.

Of all the media covering the Ahmadinejad speech, Fox News was the most impressive. After a week decrying Columbia as maniacal liberals supporting a dictator, a weaker network might not have known how to report on an orderly hour spent ridiculing him. In classic form, however, Fox simply elected to report on their own fictional version of the event.

More of J.D.'s trenchant commentary and edgy photography after the jump.

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IvyGate dispatched Fernanda Diaz, Columbia undergrad, former Spec columnist, and current deputy opinion editor, to follow in the illustrious footsteps of J.D. Porter. Her report of Ahmadinehad's rambling speech -- from within the belly of the beast -- is below. See also the award-winning (in our heads, at least) coverage at Bwog and the Spec's Ahmadineblog. Well done to you both, kind sirs.

Maybe it was the presence of Secret Service agents roaming the aisles, or the baffling smirk on President Ahmadinejad's face as he listened to President Bollinger recount his achievements in human rights abuse and Holocaust-denying, or maybe it was just the fact that we all wanted to seem cool and over it before it even began, but today's Ahmadinejad-at-Columbia extravaganza was nowhere near as tense, shocking, nor revolting as it was supposed to have been. For the most part, it was actually pretty hilarious.

Structured like the Ivy League version of a boxing match, in which Columbia President Lee Bollinger, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and SIPA Dean John Coatsworth were given an allotted time to throw their punches before a bell literally rang and allowed the other to fight back, the culmination of the whole affair was entertainingly unreal.

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Ed: IvyGate dispatched Columbia undergrad and Spectator columnist J.D. Porter to weigh in on the hype surrounding Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to the school. The Iranian Prez's event began at 1:30, and we'll have a recap coming later this afternoon. Someone instigate some mob violence out there! The media world is waiting. Just no one get hurt. OK, I'll shutup... here's J.D., with his own photos, from around noon:

Ahmadinejad fever took its time heating up today, but it looks like it's finally starting to spread, much like the deadlier literal fevers. Although event organizers scheduled the madness to begin at 11:00, the crowd only really began to swell around noon. Low Plaza, the main site of the student protests, went from almost empty to packed in about twenty minutes. The numbers don't look anywhere near the estimated 10,000 protesters, but the main action is supposed to get under way closer to one, with some protesters supposedly busing in.

More words and pictures, after the jump.

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• Brown: "Our language isn't equipped to deal with people who do not fit into the so-called 'gender binary.'"
• Columbia: Goddamn Spec website! Bwog 1, Ahmadineblog 0
• Cornell: Hmm... what's the best stock phrase for this... presto: "We may not agree with what you have to say, Mahmoud, but we'll defend to the death your right to say it."
• Harvard: Let's Go travel guides escape Harvard tyranny, might actually be good now
• Penn: "I'm scared of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad"
• Princeton: All we can learn from Ahmadinejad is that he sucks
• Yale: Something about journalistic ethics... blah blah blah ignore

According to the Spec's newly minted "Ahmadineblog" -- we'd take more time to make fun of that, but too much stuff at the moment -- up to 10,000 protesters are expected tomorrow at Columbia's Low Plaza in response to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speaking engagement.

Things are getting nasty on all sides, and the New York City Council has anted up its pressure on the school. After requesting that President Lee Bollinger rescind the Iranian President's invitation, City Councilman David Weprin asks "that the Board of Trustees of Columbia University intervene and force President Bollinger to rescind the invitation."

The Bwog and Spec staffs will be freaking the fuck out all day tomorrow (love you guys), and Spec's website may or may not work. We'll have some posts of our own, too, with reporting from Columbia students. 

After the jump, some ominous photos from the night before. Thanks to Columbia's J.D. Porter for these shots, and he'll be back midday tomorrow for a pre-lecture post. This means fuck Nick and Chris' talky thing.

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Back on the island of Manhattan, Ahmadinejad-gate rolls on.  Columbia president Lee Bollinger sat down with 50-odd student leaders yesterday to discuss his decision to allow Iran's resident bad boy, Holocaust-denier, alleged international kidnapper and suspected terrorist-enabler President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on hallowed university grounds.  Present at Bollinger's heart-to-heart were representatives from the College Republicans, Hillel, Iranian Students Association, Sikh Association, the Law school, B-school, J-school, and the Spectator (which, despite presence at said event, still managed to have suckier coverage than the Bwog). Apparently some Iranian chick cried, and two politicians have joined the anti-A-Jad fray:

Presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., whose daughter graduated from Columbia last year, denounced the University for inviting Ahmadinejad. "A man who is directing the maiming and killing of Americans troops should not be given an invitation to speak at an American university," he said in a statement.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn issued a similar denunciation. "The idea of Ahmadinejad as an honored guest anywhere in our city is offensive to all New Yorkers," she said in a statement. "He can say whatever he wants on any street corner, but should not be given center stage at one of New York's most prestigious centers of higher education."

Today's New York Post features a column by neo-con John Podhohertz entitled "A Terrorist For Tea" in which J-Pod imagines a conversation between Bollinger and Ahmadinejad. PrezBo talks about hurt Jewish feelings and A-Jad talks about how much he loves American liberals because they are actually terrorists, just like him. J-Pod is extra-qualified to comment on the dangers of mass murder, genocide, and racism because his dad, Norman Podhohertz, wants to nuke Iran and penned a clever little ditty called "My Negro Problem" in Commentary magazine in 1963. Always ahead of the curve, those Podhohertzes.