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Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times Lee C. Bollinger, Columbia's president, said in a speech on Wednesday night that professors must not use the "podium as an ideological platform." Faced with complaints that Columbia University has tolerated anti-Semitism and intimidation in its Middle East studies classes, Columbia's president said last night that academic freedom has some limits when it comes to the classroom and the broader educational experience. "We should not elevate our autonomy as individual faculty members above every other value," the president, Lee C. Bollinger, said in a speech to the Association of the Bar of the...

Dec. 23, 2004 11:27 | Updated Dec. 29, 2004 21:54 Non-academic debate By URIEL HEILMAN NEW YORK Deena Shanker was a freshman at Columbia College when she first encountered what has now famously been portrayed as the Ivy League university's problem of rampant bias, hostility and vilification of pro-Israel students and viewpoints in courses on the Middle East. She was in a class called "Palestinian and Israeli Politics and Societies," taught by Prof. Joseph Massad, and in a discussion in the spring of 2002 on Israel's military incursions into Palestinian areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Shanker said...

To: Columbia University To: Columbia University President Lee Bollinger Board of Trustees Chair David Stern The Columbia University Board of Trustees --- Columbia University is an outstanding academic institution, yet some students who express dissenting views in class are being intimidated and silenced by certain professors who have promoted a biased and politicized agenda in their classroom. We, members of the Columbia University community - including students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the general community - call on Columbia University to renew its commitment to the principles of academic freedom, high standards of intellectual inquiry, and freedom of expression in the...

Bollinger's Blindness New York Sun Staff Editorial October 22, 2004 "I think something extremely important is happening on our campuses. They are now turned into sites for cultivation of critical judgment for responsible citizenship in what we hope will remain a free republic. Even as late as five years ago no one would have dared stand on the steps of the Law Library on Columbia Campus and condemn the military thuggery of people like Ariel Sharon. Innocent people in Jenin, Kandahar, Shalamcheh, or Baghdad are brutally massacred and no one would have dared to condemn these acts publicly. But not...

A committee appointed by the president of Columbia University for months has been quietly probing allegations of bias and intimidation by faculty, particularly in Middle East studies, The Jewish Week has learned. The panel convened by President Lee Bollinger comes at a time when Jewish students at the Ivy League university have complained that some Middle East classes are unbalanced and that faculty members have used their authority to promote anti-Israel activism. “We want to preserve a healthy atmosphere on campus,” said Vincent Blasi, a Columbia Law School professor who chairs the committee. “We want to make sure that classroom...

NEW YORK - Columbia University president Lee Bollinger plans "specific steps" soon in response to allegations that professors and lecturers at the Ivy League university made vitriolic and malicious comments against Israel in classes. Bollinger made the pledge in a Wednesday phone call to Anti-Defamation League national director Abraham Foxman. Bollinger didn't detail the character of the steps, but emphasized "the matter will be handled immediately." New York's Columbia University was recently embarrassed by reports that Middle Eastern professors are exploiting their academic standing to express extreme political views on Israel, using slanderous and defamatory statements. The allegations against the...

October 28, 2004 Edition > Section: New York Printer-friendly version Email this article Bollinger to Probe Bias on Campus BY JACOB GERSHMAN - Staff Reporter of the Sun October 28, 2004 Engulfed in a public relations crisis, Columbia University has decided to investigate student claims that some professors are prejudiced against Israel and stifle opposing views in the classroom. Columbia's president, Lee Bollinger, said in a statement yesterday that he was "troubled" by student accusations against professors featured in a new documentary film, "Columbia Unbecoming," produced by a pro-Israel group in Boston. Calling the student accounts "disturbing," Mr. Bollinger said...

<p>NEW ORLEANS - In the run-up to this fall's statewide elections, Louisiana Republicans turned to top White House strategist Karl Rove for advice - and a little help raising money.</p> <p>The man credited with shaping President George W. Bush's politics and policies was the main speaker at an event held for major Republican contributors here Friday evening.</p>

Speaking of this latest High Speed Vessel to hoist the Stars and Stripes, Rear Admiral Paul Ryan, Commander Mine Warfare Command, US Navy said “the name Swift is most appropriate, because of its high speed, it reached 47 knots on sea trials.”

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A group of powerful state Republicans has met with some of the seven GOP candidates for governor in an effort to narrow the field and avoid a possible Democrat-only runoff. State Rep. Hunt Downer will soon receive the endorsement of the statewide group, one of his opponents said. A group led by Republican fundraiser and shipyard owner Donald "Boysie" Bollinger met with at least three of the seven GOP candidates, one by one, Monday in a hotel conference room near the New Orleans airport, Downer and others said. For months, party leaders worried in private...

At an invitation-only alumni reception in Washington, DC, yesterday, Columbia University President Lee Bollinger defended his refusal to fire Nicholas deGenova, the controversial professor who called for a "million Mogadishus," while admitting the public outcry, including 15,000 emails, was hurting Columbia's reputation. In response to an angry alumnus' question about the controversy and its negative impact on Columbia's reputation and alumni donations, Bollinger said that deGenova's remarks, which occured during a faculty-organized "teach-in" and included a claim that "U.S. patriotism is inseparable from imperial warfare and white supremacy," were "reprehensible," but claimed they were protected by the First Amendment. Bollinger...

The following is my email to Professor Nicholas De Genova of Columbia University who was quoted in the New York Post as wishing a "million Mogadishus" on American servicement in Iraq at an anti-war rally. This was reported on FreeRepublic on this thread, Columbia Prof wishes death to GIs. Here's my email to him: Nicholas De Genova, Your call for the US Military to suffer a "million Mogadishus" has crossed a serious line on civility and duty and commitment to our nation. You are wishing for the death of 18,000,000 of your fellow countrymen and women, individuals who are fighting...

Bollinger: No Plan to Reprimand De Genova Bollinger issued a statement in response to a letter from the U.S. Congress. By Megan Greenwell Spectator Associate News Editor Two days after Professor Nicholas De Genova returned to class for the first time in a week, the controversy surrounding his name continues. On Tuesday, in his fourth public statement since De Genova's comments at an anti-war teach-in two weeks ago, University President Lee Bollinger said, unequivocally and for the first time in an official capacity, that he would not consider punishing De Genova for his statements. Bollinger released the announcement to CNN...

<p>Columbia's president is right to call for journalism-school reform.</p> <p>Friday, July 26, 2002 12:01 a.m.</p> <p>A seemingly arcane debate has just started to fizz at Columbia University, one that has all the makings of a major--or at least a medium-sized--culture war. Watch it closely and root for The Right Side.</p>