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John Lewis: Scholar Who Calls for War on Iran Loses a Speaking Gig at George Mason but May Get Another

A history professor who has written controversially about Islam had an invitation to speak at George Mason University withdrawn, according to news reports, but the talk apparently will be rescheduled.

John D. Lewis, an assistant professor of history at Ashland University, in Ohio, had been scheduled to speak on February 28 on the topic "No Substitute for Victory: The Defeat of Islamic Totalitarianism."

But some Muslim students protested, according to the Associated Press, and when the university discovered that the charter of the student group that was sponsoring Mr. Lewis's talk had lapsed, the invitation was rescinded.

Who, exactly, rescinded the invitation was not immediately clear. University officials and representatives of the student group could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

In an e-mail message to The Chronicle, Mr. Lewis confirmed that the talk had been scrubbed. "The details why remain unclear to me," he said. He confirmed that it had been rescheduled, but he was reluctant to give details "until it is official."

Mr. Lewis had been invited to speak by the Objectivist Club, which promotes the philosophy of Ayn Rand. His speech was to have been based on an article that he published in the Winter 2006-7 issue of The Objective Standard: A Journal of Culture and Politics....
Read entire article at Chronicle of Higher Education