Wednesday, February 20, 2008 --  While Iranian Dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke about Israel to his supporters in southern Iran, telling them "the world powers established this filthy bacteria, the Zionist regime, which is lashing out at the nations in the region like a wild beast," the Board of Trustees of Columbia University completed nearly 5 months of absolute public silence about Ahmadinejad.

Five months ago, on September 24, 2007, Columbia University provided Ahmadinejad a forum in which he was allowed to spout his venom against Israel, the Jewish people, and the United States.  Yet the 23-member board of the University officially has not publicly said one word of condemnation of Ahmadinejad and what he espouses or represents. (Lee C. Bollinger is a member of the Board, but his introductory remarks were not the University's official position.)

Today is no different.

While UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called Ahmadinejad's remarks "unacceptable and unforgivable," according to the Jerusalem Post,  it appears the Board of Trustees of Columbia University does not agree.

Edmund Burke gave the world this well-known quote:  "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

There is no question but that the Board of Trustees of Columbia is doing nothing.  The only question is, are they good men (and women)?  We report -- you decide.

• Armen A. Avanessians – Goldman, Sachs & Co.
•  A’Lelia Bundles – Author, On Her Own Ground
•  José Cabranes – United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
•  Stephen Case – Cohen & Company, LLC
•  William V. Campbell – Apple Inc. and Opsware Inc. (Board member)
•  Patricia M. Cloherty – Delta Private Equity Partners, LLC
•  Kenneth Forde – Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
•  Eric Holder – Covington & Burling
•  Ellen Oran Kaden – Campbell Soup Company
•  Ann F. Kaplan – Circle Financial Group
•  Mark E. Kingdon – Kingdon Capital Management
•  Marilyn Laurie – Laurie Consulting, Inc.
•  Gerry Lenfest – Philadelphia Museum of Art (Board Chairman)
•  Philip Milstein – Ogden CAP Properties, LLC
•  Vikram Pandit – Formerly with Morgan Stanley
•  Michael B. Rothfeld – Theatrical producer and private equity investor
•  Joan Edelman Spero – Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
•  Esta Stecher – The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
•  Kyriakos Tsakopoulos – KT Communities Corporation
•  Savio Tung – Investcorp International, Inc.
•  Faye Wattleton – Center for the Advancement of Women
•  Richard E. Witten – The Orienta Group
•  Dr. Clyde Y. C. Wu – Wayne State University School of Medicine