Columbia Dems Official Statement on Ahmadinejad

Below is a copy of the body email sent out yesterday to the 1,500 strong organization we call the Columbia University College Democrats. It's our official statement on where we've been and where we're going.

College Democrats,

Over the past few days the news of President Ahmadinejad's appearance has sparked intense debate on our campus.

As your President and Vice President we want to take a moment and outline some of the controversies happening right now and explain our organization's role in this process.

It is our belief that the general body of students at this school has been shut out of these important decisions and we'd like to change that right now.

Many of you first learned about the Ahmadinejad's appearance at our general body meeting this past Wednesday. By the time we announced the event, registration had closed, meaning few if any of us were able to register. This was the product of the administration only announcing the event to a select few campus leaders before opening the registration process. The leadership of the Democrats spoke with President Bollinger on this issue and he assured us it will not happen again.

Over the past 24 hours we have worked hard to ensure that this event live up to it's billing - 'a free exchange of ideas.' It would be difficult to meet that standard if most of the students on this campus were not allowed to participate. We're proud to say that through the leadership of the democrats, the councils and various other campus groups, we have gotten the administration to agree to simulcast the speech in both John Jay and Wien Lounges. Additionally, students will be allowed to email in questions from now until the middle of the speech. Please send any questions to worldleaders@columbia.edu. These are relatively small concessions but they can help turn this event from a spectator show into an opportunity to challenge one of the most controversial figures of our time.

The Democrats have also decided to organize a '10 Questions' campaign. The concept here is to craft, along with other student groups, a series of 10 questions that we feel President Ahmadinejad must address. A copy of these questions will be submitted to everyone entering Lerner on Monday in the hope that a few of these questions are asked. Everyone is encouraged to submit these questions through email before the event. If anyone would like to help in the process of putting together these questions please email Kate Redburn at krr2105@columbia.edu

You may or may not also know that an adhoc coalition of students- the Columbia Coalition- has formed in response to the event. We'd like to take this opportunity to explain how the Dems board has been involved up to this point, and to solicit your input as to how we should go forward.

Today, there has been an unfortunate campaign of misinformation by another coalition, the Columbia Coalition Against the War (CCAW). Although none of their
representatives have attended any of the Columbia Coalition meetings, they have issued an open letter accusing the Columbia Coalition and any forum participants of advocating for a war with Iran. This could not be
further from the truth.

The Columbia Coalition itself is a non-partisan group which itself is expressing no views on the Iranian President or his visit to our campus. It is not
advocating for any action toward Iran, belligerent or otherwise. It is providing a public forum on Low Plaza giving any and all interested
student groups the opportunity to speak for around 15 minutes each. The forum will not be a pro-war rally, and it will include only Columbia
affiliates, not outsiders. To suggest anything to the contrary is a ploy for attention, not an informed comment.

The board feels that the forum is a positive and appropriate response to the event, and that it is in keeping with our dedication to free speech on campus. Our board has also voted to accept a slot during the Columbia Coalition's Forum. We welcome and encourage your input in helping prepare our remarks for the event.

As Democrats, we seek to engage in dialogue with Iran, and we endorse the decision to invite him unto our campus. This is a unique opportunity to challenge and expose one of the most radical leaders in the world, and as Democrats we welcome this chance. We believe in preventing another war in the Middle East. And we believe that Iran's state sponsored terrorism represents a serious threat to the United States and her president's anti-antisemitism and Holocaust denials represent a serious threat to moral sensibilities across the globe.

And that is precisely why we need to grill and engage Ahmadinejad in every forum possible - not avoid him.

Hopefully everyone made it through the email - it's a long one.

Thanks to all of you who have joined in this debate in the last few days and we hope more of you email us and get involved and continue to give us feedback.

- Josh & Chris