Iranian President on Campus.

Almost as soon as the school's president, Lee Bollinger, announced the controversial Iranian president had been invited to participate in a Q&A session, students started neglecting homework and skipping classes and turned their attention to a geopolitical thriller that was playing out in their backyard.

Whether you despise him for his views on homosexuality, Israel and the Holocaust, or respect him for standing up to the United States, there's no denying that the Iranian president's visit sparked an international media circus -- and generated serious debate within Columbia.

The talk was sponsored by my school, Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, where about half of the 1,200 graduate students are international, coming from 100 countries. For SIPA, as it's known, Ahmadinejad's visit felt a bit like winning the NCAA basketball championship -- it was the most anticipated event of the year and will likely be a defining moment of many students' graduate experience.

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CLASSROOM: THE WORLD

Most students I spoke with vociferously disagreed with most of the Iranian President's politics, but nearly all said inviting Ahmadinejad to engage with the student body -- and in a larger sense with the American public -- was a positive step.

"I've been shocked by the controversy," said Ruth MacQuiddy, a student at SIPA. "Bring him to us and let us figure out what he thinks."

"It didn't faze me at all," said Raphael Tisch, another SIPA student. "It seemed natural Columbia would invite him because SIPA is known for its international relations program and promoting understanding of international issues."

That's a far cry from much of the debate outside the school, where pundits and talk show hosts have castigated the university for extending an invitation to the leader of a foreign regime the U.S. government accuses of funding terrorists and fomenting violence against American troops in Iraq.

Leading up to Ahmadinejad's talk on Monday, student groups plastered the campus with posters, most exposing some of the darker realities of human rights abuses in Iran. A common series of grainy color photos showed two Iranian teenage boys blindfolded with nooses around their necks moments before their public execution for allegedly committing the "crime" of homosexuality.

Other posters, often stapled next to fliers for Yom Kippur events, piano lessons and "rooms for rent," featured some of Ahmadinejad's more infamous -- some say misunderstood -- attributions, like his utterance that "Israel must be wiped off the map."

Though passions ran high, people never lost their sense of humor. Another poster showed the bearded Ahmadinejad with a Zoolander-like look. It read, "Bringing Sexy Back."

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LAWN SEATING

When Monday finally rolled around, thousands of students poured out onto the campus's central lawn to watch a live simulcast of the event only a few hundred were able to see in person. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the university's gates, many holding signs comparing Ahmadinejad to Hitler and chanting, "Shame on Columbia."

Within the campus, there was less of a demonstration and more of a spirited debate. But everyone grew quiet after Ahmadinejad came on screen.

A lengthy monologue on the importance of scientific inquiry alienated some, especially because of its references to the Quran. ("Dude, most of us aren't Muslim," said David Billingsley, a junior at Columbia studying math.) Ahmadinejad's now-famous statement that homosexuals don't exist in Iran drew raucous laughter -- many people said they couldn't take him seriously after that.

But the Iranian president got some applause when he talked about rights of Palestinians in Israel.

"He made some legitimate points," said Katie Martin-Browne, a sophomore at Columbia's Barnard College studying political science and dance. "Some people don't agree with the U.S.'s support of Israel -- the fact he is showing us a different perspective is important."

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HOPE?

After listening to the speech, many of my fellow students were hopeful that the debate over Ahmadinejad's appearance could help bring about a thaw in U.S.-Iranian relations. Some were encouraged by Ahmadinejad's invitation to Columbia faculty and students to speak at Iranian universities -- perhaps that could provide could provide an opening, they said.

Sierra Soleil, a graduate student at Columbia's School of Arts and Sciences, summed up the feelings of many around campus.

"I want to be optimistic."

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asap contributor Aaron Clark is a Columbia University graduate student and a former Oregon-based reporter for the AP.

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