To the editor:

I am embarrassed for Columbia University because of the rude behavior of its president concerning his remarks about Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, as quoted in Tuesday’s Journal-World.

I agree with the quoted professor of Iranian studies that Bollinger’s introduction was “very harsh” considering that Ahmadinejad occupies this position of authority in Iran and he was invited by the university to share his views and receive questions and comments from the audience.

How many of us would invite someone into our homes and then say derogatory remarks about them publicly? Bollinger’s remarks about Iran’s president being “brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated” are a reflection of his own arrogance and lack of hospitality.

On the other hand, I do not deny that Bollinger had the right to question a guest about their beliefs and apparent actions reflecting those beliefs since that was the stated purpose of the forum.

Carl Burkhead,

Lawrence