On March 26, at a teach-in protesting the recently launched U.S. invasion of Iraq, assistant professor Nicholas De Genova commented that he wished "a million Mogadishus" on the invading American troops, referencing the humiliating defeat of U.S. troops in the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993, which brought about the end of the U.S. invasion of Somalia. The comment caused a storm of outrage and Bollinger received a letter signed by 143 members of the House of Representatives and 20,000 e-mails about them. This prompted him to appoint a committee to explore the "limits of political expression in the campus environment." Law professor Vincent Blasi would lead the committee and hence it became known as the Blasi committee. The other members of the committee were law professor Michael C. Dorf, business school dean Glenn Hubbard, engineering professor Paul Duby, English professor Kathy Eden, and university chaplain, Jewelnel Davis. According to Blasi, the committee had no mandate to investigate whether departments were "biased or has any particular kind of slant," but it investigated whether "grade retaliation" occurred and whether students had any reason to fear expressing views opposing those of their professors. The committee would meet once a month starting in September.