Why is Ann Coulter allowed to speak at an American university and Bishop Desmond Tutu isn't?

This morning when I read Juan Cole’s post, Tutu Excluded - Double Standard at the University of St. Thomas, I was so upset that I called the university, 651.962.4000, and left a message.

According to Cole, Tutu was uninvited from speaking at the Catholic University of St. Thomas [UST] in Minneapolis for his stance against Israeli mistreatment of the Palestinians. Tutu “[H]as stood all his life for nonviolent peace-making and an end to racism....

“And here is the kicker. UST is guilty of a whopper of a double standard. Two years ago, the university allowed Ann Coulter to speak on its campus.

"Ann Coulter once said of Muslims, 'We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.'"

Tony Karon posted My favorite ‘anti-Semite’ about UST’s refusal to let Tutu speak on its campus: “…Having asked sane and rational people to believe that Jimmy Carter is a Holocaust denier simply for pointing out the obvious about the apartheid regime Israel maintains in the occupied territories, the same crew now want us to believe that Archbishop Desmond Tutu is an anti-Semite. No jokes!

“That was the reason cited for Tutu being banned from speaking at St. Thomas University in Minneapolis. ‘We had heard some things he said that some people judged to be anti-Semitic and against Israeli policy,’ explained university official Doug Hennes.

“’The anti-Semitic’ views Tutu had expressed were in his April 2002 speech “Occupation is Oppression” in which he likened the occupation regime in the West Bank, based on his personal experience of it, to what he had experienced as a black person in South Africa….”

This afternoon I called UST at 651.962.6500, the office of the President of UST, Father Dease, where I left a message. I then Googled Father Dease and found this letter to members of the St. Thomas community regarding the Tutu uninvitation:

“…We became aware of concerns about some of Archbishop Tutu's widely publicized statements that have been hurtful to members of the Jewish community. I spoke with Jews for whom I have great respect. What stung these individuals was not that Archbishop Tutu criticized Israel but how he did so, and the moral equivalencies that they felt he drew between Israel’s policies and those of Nazi Germany, and between Zionism and racism.”

I read Tutu’s April 2002 speech “Occupation is Oppression” and found this reference to Hitler: “People are scared in this country [the U.S.] to say wrong is wrong because the Jewish lobby is powerful – very powerful. Well, so what? This is God’s world. For goodness sake, this is God’s world! We live in a moral universe. The apartheid government was very powerful, but today it no longer exists. Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Pinochet, Milosovic, and Idi Amin were all powerful, but in the end they bit the dust.” [emphasis mine]

Even though Father Dease’s letter was directed to the St. Thomas community and he ends the letter by welcoming their comments, I hope more people call him, 652.962.6500 (his office) or 651.962.4000 (the main number). According to the university’s website, its mission is to educate “…[S]tudents to be morally responsible leaders who think critically, act wisely and work skillfully to advance the common good.”

How in the world does Ann Coulter advance the university's mission and Bishop Tutu does not?

(photo of Tutu: Geoconger Files)