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‎“Meet us today, Monday, at 9:30 in front of the central library, during Ahmadinejad’s ‎speech at the Allameh Amini Hall” – was a sentence written on the bottom of a small ‎flyer that was handed out hours before Ahmadinejad’s speech at Tehran University. On ‎another flyer, students wrote to Ahmadinejad: “We are coming to remind you that you ‎are stepping into an academic environment that has had its best professors fired by your ‎handpicked officials…; We are coming to complain about overcrowded dorms… ; We ‎are coming to taste justice; We are coming tomorrow to see if you treat us as justly as ‎you treated students at Columbia University. Will you listen to our questions and ‎criticisms just as you listened to their questions, even insults and boos?”‎

But the President did not treat Iranian students the way he treated those at Columbia ‎University. None of the hundreds of critical students were allowed to enter the room ‎where he delivered his speech. Security officers supervised the proceedings tightly and ‎even barred students from other universities to attend the gathering. Despite these ‎measures, dozens of Polytechnic and Allameh University students were able to pass ‎through security checkpoints into the Tehran University. ‎

The student gathering began inside the university and in front of the Allameh Amini hall, ‎where Ahmadinejad was delivering his speech. Soon they were violently attacked ‎several times by Basiji “students,” none of whom looked familiar to Tehran University ‎students. ‎

About a thousand students – more than the number of students that were listening to ‎Ahmadinejad inside the hall – were chanting in unison: “Fascist president – the ‎University is not your place.” They also chanted, “Death to the dictator,” and “Agent of ‎discrimination and corruption – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.” ‎

Student representatives from the Allameh and Polytechnic universities delivered speeches ‎at the open microphone and criticized the student suspensions and the President’s ‎policies. But this was not all. Those students who were not allowed to enter the hall ‎marched in the campus while singing “Yar-e Dabestani” and “Ey Iran,” two popular ‎nationalist songs. They turned into the adjoining Enghelab Avenue where events took a ‎different turn. Anti-riot police decided to use “pepper gas” to disperse the students. In ‎response, students began chanting: “Shame on you officer – leave students alone.” They ‎also chanted, “We don’t want a military government.” Minutes later the vehicle carrying ‎the minister of higher education attempted to pass through the crowd. Angry students ‎began chanting, “Incompetent minister, resign, resign.” Minister of education Zahedi ‎quickly fled the scene with the help of his driver and bodyguards. ‎

After 4 hours of marching and protesting, the protesting students dispersed around 2 p.m. ‎One student made a remark that perhaps best describes what is on the mind of everyone ‎today, “We have to wait and see if Mr. Ahmadinejad will seek revenge against Tehran ‎University students the way he sought revenge against Polytechnic University students ‎last year.”‎