HAS HARVARD FLIP-FLOPPED on the Tom Paulin invitation? That’s what The Crimson is reporting:

Concerned about the message it was sending on free speech, the English department yesterday renewed the invitation it cancelled just one week ago to Tom Paulin, an award-winning Irish poet who has expressed violently anti-Israeli views.

Next, in another stirring endorsement of free speech, Harvard will be inviting Randall Terry and Neal Horsley to lecture on abortion.

UPDATE: Reader Andy Freeman writes:

It’s not surprising that Harvard’s English department has changed their mind about the invitation. Recall what they wrote when they cancelled it: “The English Department sincerely regret the widespread consternation that has arisen as a result of this invitation, which had been originally decided on last winter solely on the basis of Mr. Paulin’s lifetime accomplishments as a poet.”

They didn’t cancel because they felt that that invitation was a mistake. They cancelled because they were getting criticized.

I don’t see any reason to believe that they’re interested in free speech or intellectual inquiry. They’re just jumping for praise.

I don’t think they’ll get much of that.