"I wanted to talk to him afterwards, but they just airlifted him out of here," said Geno White, an MIT senior.
Several other students said they felt the views of both speakers were rather extreme.
"The debate had its accuracies and inaccuracies on both sides, but it did serve its purpose of giving people information to go home and form their own opinions,” said Ebraheem Fontaine, a junior at MIT.
Sponsors of the event included the MIT College Republicans and The Tech, MIT’s student newspaper, which refused to print Horowitz's controversial ad when approached last spring.
"What's important is that people continue to talk about this issue," said Huanne Thomas, business manager of The Tech. "There is a difference between printing an ad that is so offensive and sponsoring a forum for debate."