Last night, former Attorney General John Ashcroft came to Cornell. He toured the campus and called it the most beautiful learning environment on earth!

Then he came to a small reception to meet and greet and briefly answer questions. I was privileged enough to meet Ashcroft at the reception. He was very down-to-earth, friendly, and answered some asinine questions quite brilliantly.

Following the reception, Ashcroft went on to speak before over 700 members of the Cornell and Ithaca communities. His defense of the Patriot Act and Guantanamo Bay was incredible. I had liberal friends tell me afterwards that he was so logical, they almost believed him — no small feat on Ashcroft’s part, in my opinion.

Unfortunately, the speaking event was repeatedly disrupted by some of the most pathetic and immature demonstrations I have ever seen. Before Ashcroft even came on stage, a member of the Cornell Administration came up and referred to the sections of the Campus Code of Conduct on free speech and invited speakers. Essentially, his point was that Ashcroft has been invited to speak and may not be prevented from doing so. Also, attendees of the speech had the right to hear the presentation without interruption. Demonstrations and protests are allowed outside and those in disagreement with the speech may ask questions at the appropriate time following the speech. The Cornell Police and Campus Life staff were on hand to escort out any troublemakers.

I have to admit, for a few minutes there, I was actually optimistic that the administration would have a spine and actually enforce the rules they profess to abide by. Boy, did they fool me.

About halfway through the speech, some people in the crowd stood up, turned around, and put black hoods over their heads. I assume they were protesting about Gitmo. Audience members who were sitting behind these protesters could not see. Other liberals started yelling and shouting out questions when Ashcroft was still speaking. The administration did absolutely nothing. They only approached the shouters after about a minute and politely asked them to quiet down. About 10-15 minutes later, a person I recognized to be the leader of the campus International Socialist Organization blew a shrill whistle and the hooded figures exited the auditorium. That in itself was quite hilarious, as some old women who put on the hoods were tripping around and couldn’t find the door.

I must give Ashcroft a lot of credit. He handled the protesters better than I could have dreamed. Not only was his speech absolutely brilliant, but his response to the completely unintelligent questions and protests was consistently quick and clever. He turned the audience against the demonstrators. It was a proud moment for me.

As soon as the protesters stood up, I knew they were going to get free press in today’s papers. So, I decided to do a rough count of how many there were. My estimate was around 30 people, with no more than 50. This morning, the Cornell Daily Sun apparently agreed and reported that about 50 individuals walked out.

The local newspaper, on the other hand, blatantly exaggerated — read: lied — about the numbers of protesters (who they affectionately refer to as “dissenters”).

From the Ithaca Journal: 100 walk out on Ashcroft talk

To me, this is just the icing on a very pathetic cake. I was extraordinarily disappointed in the behavior of Cornell students and administration. I was not surprised, just disappointed.

Honestly, how mature are we here at one of the best educational institutions in the world? Haughty professors and students preach the merits of an academic environment where minds, hearts, and doors are open and any subject can be discussed calmly and politely. They pride themselves on fostering an atmosphere were individuals can speak and listeners can respond intelligently.

In light of that, what the hell happened last night? It was pathetic. It was embarrassing. I read an article last week about Colorado University’s similar actions toward Ashcroft. It’s good to know that the Cornell community is capable of acting in the same immature manner as a state school which must accept any Colorado high school graduate.

Way to go, Cornell.