Following up on our post on Monday, the “Ahmadinedinner” (as friend of New Voices and editor-in-chief of The Current David Fine called tonight’s student dinner with the grand poobah of Iran in an op-ed in the Columbia Spectator) will go forward tonight, albeit with a change in the cast.
The student organization originally reported to be attending a charming candle-lit dinner with the Iranian president is no longer going, according to the Bwog:
In what will certainly be characterized by the media as caving to public pressure, the Columbia International Relations Council and Association, CIRCA, will be a no show (sic) at tomorrow’s dinner with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The Bwog (I feel just a little silly every time I type that word) also noted that it was unclear whether CIRCA had been uninvited or had simply decided not to attend.
Then the Spec chimed in again, with three key pieces of information:
- “…other students will still be attending the dinner, which will take place as scheduled on Wednesday.”
- “Ahmadinejad has previously held private dinners with students, diplomats, professors and others, and representatives from Yale and New York University have attended in the past.”
- “…students from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs would still be attending,” despite CIRCA’s invitation being “revoked.”
One element of the coverage of this ongoing mess/circus/dinner that we previously missed, from the Bwog:
…Fox News published a distorted account of the planned events, which claimed that [Columbia University President Lee Bollinger] and the University in some way supported the event. Many others followed suit, resulting in one attempt to bring legal action against the university.
We’ll try to have some post-game analysis for you tomorrow after the dinner is over and the hangover has set in.
