Although campus was closed to non-students, I managed to make my way there with my alumni card. Unlike the scene outside of campus on Broadway, inside was pretty quiet. I arrived at about 11:45 and students were giving speeches on the steps of Low Library. The speakers (the hardware, not the students) seem to have had their volume adjusted and it was actually hard to hear unless the person speaking yelled into the microphone. The tone was pretty much, Ahmadinejad bad, but let him speak. The one really anti-Ahmadinejad student asked a good question, to paraphrase, “President Bollinger, just what does Ahmadinejad have to do to not get invited to speak on campus?” He then went on to list Iran’s atrocities. When he moved off script and said something slightly pro-Bush, however, the crowd booed.

I was expecting a much bigger anti-Bush crowd, but that wasn’t the case. Here’s what it looked like on campus.

Students on the steps of Low Library with signs like “No War On Iran.”

It was crowded, but not so much. On a day like today, the Low Library steps are ususally packed with students sunning themselves before winter sets in.

One of the pro-Iran signs on campus…

…and another. The number of Jews in Iran comes up often.

Yeah, right. Bridge for sale anyone?

Paging Nancy Pelosi…

The sign says, “Ahmadinejad is Bad. Bush is worse.” (They’re communists, fwiw)

By this time, the students had stopped speaking on the Low Library steps and students were making their way to the lawn to watch the speech on a giant TV. These Jewish students were singing and dancing with a big crowd around them.

Waiting for the speech to start…

The communists from outside have moved to campus. You can’t tell from this photo, but the female commie was this very petite woman who was screaming obscenities like a sailor.

This sign says “Stop Persecuting Women and Gays.”

More student protesters…

And another…

This is with about 5 minutes to go before the speech. Pretty good sized crowd.

My favorite sign…

These “Jews against Zionism” were ouside of campus and had a equally large number of Jews for Zionism yelling at them.

The Ahmadinejad motorcade on the way home…

…with a full Secret Service escort.