Johns Hopkins’ International Studies majors had the opportunity on February 29 to meet Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali-born activist, writer, and politician. Hirsi Ali is currently is a fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government as well as a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. She was in town to speak at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall as part of the Baltimore Speakers Series. Before her lecture to a sold-out crowd at the Meyerhoff, Hirsi Ali visited the Homewood campus as an exclusive guest of the International Studies Program.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali was named one of TIME Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” of 2005 and won the Simone de Beauvoir Prize for women’s rights in 2008. In 2015, she was awarded the Lantos Human Rights Prize, named after U.S. Congressman Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to Congress. She is the author of several books, including two memoirs, Infidel (2007) and Nomad (2010). Her most recent book, Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now (2015), aims to reframe the public discussion about Islam, violence, and human rights.

At Hopkins, Hirsi Ali engaged in a wide-ranging discussion with International Studies majors. Students asked Hirsi Ali about her views on European immigration, Islamic doctrine, and what it is like to live under the constant threat of violence from Islamic extremists. One student asked Hirsi Ali for advice on how to ensure freedom of speech on campus given the current culture of “political correctness.” “Organize, organize, organize,” she replied. “Your parents are not spending so much money for an education that shields you from difficult ideas or opposing opinions. There is no ‘safe space’ in the real world. That’s why you must organize and fight to protect academic freedom.”