Ahmadinejad Invite Could Cost Columbia State Money

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver told a reporter for The New York Sun that Columbia University could be jeopardizing consideration for state money in the future with its insistence on inviting Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak today despite wide protest:

"There are issues that Columbia may have before us that obviously this cavalier attitude would be something that people would recall," Mr. Silver said. "Obviously, there's some degree of capital support that has been provided to Columbia in the past. These are things people might take a different view of … knowing that this is that kind of an institution."

• The New York Sun