Don't silence graduation speakers you disagree with

“Oh, that my enemy would write a book,” goes the old wish, coined by someone who knew there is no better way to expose fools than through their own words. It’s an idea that deserves consideration from the college students and faculty unhappy with their schools’ choice in commencement speakers.

The usual response to such invitations is to demand that they be revoked. This year, critics cowed Brandeis into yanking its offer to anti-Islam activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Outrage at Rutgers prompted former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to withdraw, and when howls went up at Smith, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde suddenly found better things to do.