SAN ANTONIO -- A student group at the University of Texas at San Antonio protested the visit Monday of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hundreds of miles away at Columbia University in New York.

Members of the student chapter of Youth Conservatives of Texas set up an informational booth at the main UTSA campus to counter Ahmadinejad's views about Israel and the Holocaust and his repeated denials of his country's alleged arming of insurgents in Iraq.

"Students need to learn more what it is he stands for and just the fascism he's promoting in Iran," said YCT member Laura Morales. "I think that welcoming someone like that on our campuses is just giving him an invitation to indoctrinate our youth."

But other students disagreed with Morales, saying that despite Ahmadinejad's views, he deserves a voice in this country.

"I think that because we live in America and part of our Constitution is freedom of speech, anyone should be able to speak," a female student said. "And if you want to listen go ahead, and if not, then that's your choice."

"I think we need to hear what he had to say," a female student said. "And if you don't necessarily like it, you can always leave."

In New York, hundreds of protesters gathered for a rally against Ahmadinejad at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza across from the United Nations, where he is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Tuesday.