***updated below with photos and video from Columbia***

Ruben Navarrette and I had a heated, but civil discussion about immigration, border security, and citizenship at Colgate University tonight. No pies or fists were thrown. The most unintentionally humorous moment for me occurred when a student stood up to complain about “reductionist” arguments–and then proceeded to complain about my invoking the Founding Fathers because the Founding Fathers were slaveholders. For the most part, though, the audience questions were thoughtful and the debate respectful.

So, I was feeling good about the state of campus debate until I logged on and caught up on the second Columbia University debacle. Unbelievable. This morning, I plugged the event featuring Walid Shoebat and was optimistic it would turn out better than the mobbing of Minuteman Jim Gilchrist last week. Boy, was I wrong.

Judith Weiss at KesherTalk reports on how Columbia disinvited the public from the event at the last minute–some of whom had traveled from far-flung places to attend:

How do you avoid political embarrassment at Columbia University these days?

Disinvite invited guests to a talk sure to interest conservatives and other hawks in the larger NYC community. A talk, by the bye, well advertised in several major conservative blogs.

Why, we wonder, at 4:45 in the afternoon, a mere 3:15 hours before Walid Shoebat and his panel were to speak to an audience at Columbia University, all of whom had RSVP’d to the Columbia University College Republicans who were sponsoring the talk, and received invitations from them to the event, has Jewelnel Davis, the advising officer to Student Governing Board groups at Columbia decided to rescind all of the invitations?

Can it possibly be that, having been severely embarrassed by last week’s events - when radical leftists at Columbia were left free to act as thugs and attack the Minutemen - and the blogstorm it precipitated, resulting in severe, public criticism of Lee Bollinger, President of Columbia University, for his lack of initiative at solving the problem, this week they decided to solve the problem - at the last minute - by restricting their popular lecturer to Columbia students and 20 invited guests.

It is the decision of the advising office to Student Governing Board groups that at tonight’s event sponsored by the Columbia College Republicans, hosts to the Walid Shoebat Foundation, attendance will be limited to the invited speakers and their staff, CUID holders, and 20 invited guests. You are receiving this email to inform you that unfortunately, your RSVP to tonight’s event cannot be accepted. Sincerely,

Jewelnel Davis
University Chaplain
Associate Provost
Director of the Earl Hall Center

More here on the debacle. Solomonia suspects a sandbagging. Pamela of Atlas Shrugs was able to attend and is astounded by the administration’s cowardice.

Allah calls it exactly what it is:

A disgrace.

Time for another e-mail to Columbia’s president, Lee Bollinger:

bollinger@columbia.edu

Do these people have any idea of what a classical liberal education is supposed to be anymore?

***

More:

Seva Brodsky, who was on a Greyhound bus from Boston when she got the news, is not happy.

The Daily Infidel was also shut out and reports that the disinvitation e-mail from the university chaplain went out to 77 people who had reserved tickets and made plans to attend.

Here’s the contact info of Columbia’s disinviter:

Jewelnel Davis
University Chaplain
Associate Provost
Director of the Earl Hall Center
jd260@columbia.edu
chaplain@columbia.edu

***

A reader shares his e-mail to Lee Bollinger:

To Mr Bollinger,

I was considering Columbia for a Masters in International Development after my service in the Peace Corps. But after witnessing your University controlled by far left radicals who suppress freedom of speech and physical[l]y intimidate dissenting point of views, I will never consider Columbia University again.
Your University has become a disgrace to the free and respectful exchange of ideas you expect at the university level. Your inaction in punishing your hooligan students made my selection process easier…now I can cross out Columbia.

Sincerely,

Olivier Paris-Leclerc

***

Update: Mary Madigan took photos and vid of the locked-out attendees outside Columbia U.’s Roone Arledge auditorium. She explains the video encounter:

Here’s a film* of a Columbia representative pantomiming sympathy to a group of people who were apparently friends of Walid Shoebat. Although the she could have opened the door and talked directly to them at any thime, she chose instead to do this odd mime routine. Her audience was not impressed. Note the her hostile little wave to the camera, and her smile as Shoebat’s disappointed friends leave.

[* the whole thing is in mime because my camera has film but no sound - sorry]

Watch:

Judith Kesher also sends along the latest dispatch from Seva Brodsky.

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