Opinion > October 25, 2007

By Monica Petrescu and Kyle Grochmal | Guest columnists

Image what would have happened if President Nathan O. Hatch introduced former Secretary of Labor Ray Marshall at the immigration conference Oct. 3 by condemning the incompetence of the Carter administration.

If Hatch had called Carter and his cabinet imbecile socialists, both Marshall and the student body he was addressing would have had every right to be offended.

This column is in response to the Oct. 11 guest column by senior Jon Reedy (“Leader has not earned respect”).

Reedy notes that Columbia’s hosting of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad offered “a free and unfettered platform for intellectuals.”

However, as we have already stated, Columbia’s president Lee Bollinger, by prefacing the Iranian President’s speech with his own biased and derogatory commentary, sought to deny his students their own intellectual decisions.

The audience should be capable of assessing Ahmadinejad based on his own speech rather than being fed a stance by their community leader.

By giving in to the media pressure to condemn Ahmadinejad, Bollinger relinquished his “intellectual courage.”

Bollinger did not act as a neutral host, but rather succumbed to pressure to mistreat his guest. It is quite clear why Bollinger lacks intellectual courage.

This issue is about neither Ahmadinejad’s morals nor his policies in Iran.

Rather, our article condemned those who did not want to hear Ahamdinejad’s pleas for world peace, and did not try to listen to his world views.

Reedy argues that Ahmadinejad has not earned respect as a diplomat through his style of leadership.

The world of diplomacy however, is about cooperation and not about imposing value judgements. Reedy’s view of the world is unhealthily ethnocentric.

We do not mean to condemn him, but rather condemn the American media that presents a very narrow and biased view of all events.

While Reedy holds a strong opinion about Ahmadinejad, we are not here to make an assessment of this leader.

We believe that Americans should all be allowed to form their own views, not tainted by ethnocentrism.

Isolated incidents and stories can taint the image of any world power, including both the United States and Iran.

As the United Nations scene in September shows, petty personal politics are getting in the way of diplomacy yet again.

The saddest part is, these personal attacks have found their way into academia, and now even university presidents cannot present a topic from an unbiased perspective.

None of our professors have ever resorted to name calling during a lecture, not even when discussing Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin.

It is the role of higher education to allow students to understand world issues on their own and not to be lectured about what is right or wrong. The media is already lecturing us on this, as is the president.

Monica Petrescu is a sophomore history major from Vernon Hills, Ill., and Kyle Grochmal is a sophomore from Rehoboth, Mass.