Ann Coulter, conservative commentator and fierce opponent of all things left-wing, brought both praise and protest to Georgetown University on the evening of October 20. Greeted by a full house in the Hariri Building’s Lohrfink Auditorium, Coulter’s presence certainly stirred up mixed emotions as she touched upon issues ranging from the Occupy Wall Street protests to the upcoming 2012 elections.

In an event sponsored by the GU College Republicans and the Georgetown Lecture Fund, Coulter gave an hour of her time at the rumored cost of $10,000 to speak to Georgetown students and faculty and answer their questions. Well-known as a controversial speaker and writer, Coulter is now author of eight New York Times bestsellers, the most recent of which is entitled Demonic: How the Liberal Mob is Endangering America.

Appropriately enough, Coulter began her speech with a commentary on the Occupy Wall Street movement and its correlation to her newest book. “If only those at Occupy Wall Street could take down capitalism,” she said matter-of-factly, “then they could go back to what they usually do… Occupy Mom’s Basement.”

The rest of the hour continued with a similar tone, with repeated jabs at the Democratic Party and the liberal masses and media. Coulter remained unapologetic as she made one harsh generalization after another, stating that “liberals love mobs,” “liberals are consumed by what everyone thinks of them,” and “liberals are seized by groupthink.” According to Coulter, all liberals are “very big on bullying people into agreeing with them rather than actually engaging in… dialogue.”

Eventually, Coulter took a break from derailing the Occupy movements to make clear her opinions on President Obama and his administration.

“Every single thing that Obama has done has been designed to wreck the economy,” she said.

She followed this up with another bold statement, saying that “Obama has now surpassed Tiger Woods for the most times saying ‘I’m sorry’ by a mixed-race male.”

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As a major university in a political hub, Georgetown gets its fair share of noteworthy speakers—from the campus community sweating over Bradley Cooper to a very short-notice drop-in from the President this past spring. And this weekend, the Georgetown Lecture Fund is proudly sponsoring a talk by someone who’s sure to get students on all sides of the political spectrum buzzing with disagreement: Filmmaker, author, and baseball hat enthusiast Michael Moore.

The event, which opens the Lecture Fund’s 2011-2012 season with a bang, is entitled “Here Comes Trouble: An Evening with Michael Moore.” (Be warned that this is a little misleading—the event is actually at 3:00 p.m.). Moore is coming in conjunction with promotion of his new book, Here Comes Trouble: Stories from My Life. The Academy Award-winning director has been known for his left-wing politics and high-publicity antics ever since he got chased off the Oscar stage for turning his acceptance speech for Bowling for Columbine into an anti-war rant in 2003. Since then, he’s produced such politically-minded films as Fahrenheit 9/11, which explored the aftermath of the terrorist attack, and Sicko, a critical look at the U.S. healthcare system. And at a school that loves endless discussion of politics as much as Georgetown, he should be ready for, at the very least, an eager audience, if not one that’s necessarily on his side.

The event will take place in Gaston Hall on Friday, and is free of charge. Wristband distribution will begin at 12:30 p.m., but we expect the line won’t be quite as long as Obama’s was.

Photo courtesy Georgetown Lecture Fund.

Last night, Melissa Anelli (COL ’01), webmistress of the popular Harry Potter fansite The Leaky Cauldron and author of Harry, A History, spoke to students and fans alike about her rise on the internet, the wizarding world of Harry Potter, and the rollercoaster ride that was her four years at Georgetown.

Anelli began her speech by acknowledging the rivalry between The Hoya and The Voice—Anelli was a Hoya staffer in her day, but admitted that Vox‘s recent post was “one of the nicest things ever written about [her.]”

Much like Potter author J.K. Rowling, Anelli’s is somewhat of a Cinderella story. After four years at Georgetown, where she began her college career as a pre-med major and ended it with a degree in English, Anelli was unemployed and feeling “useless,” as she put described. But through the magic of Harry Potter, she was able to find her calling.

When she got her first scoop—the first photo of the Potter film cast in costume from Vanity Fair—she landed a (nonpaying) job at The Leaky Cauldron. Her luck turned from there. She found paid employment with MTV Studios, met J.K. Rowling herself in London, advanced to work as a report for the Long Island Advance, and published her first book in 2008.

In addition to discussing her own rise to success as well as that of JK Rowling, Anelli compared her and Rowling’s struggles to those of the average Georgetown student. “Don’t turn your back on ‘the flaw in the plan,’” Anelli said.

Later, to the delight of the audience, Anelli answered a question that has plagued many a dorm lounge on-campus: Which Georgetown school corresponds to which Hogwarts house?

While Vox has some reservations about her answer—NHS is Hufflepuff, MSB is Slytherin, SFS is Gryffindor, the College is Ravenclaw—we won’t argue with the expert.