‘Alt-Right’ White Nationalist Richard Spencer To Speak At Alabama University
Image by Getty Images
By Sam Kestenbaum April 12, 2017
“Alt-right” figurehead and white nationalist Richard Spencer plans to speak at Auburn University in Alabama next week.
In an online announcement, Spencer said that he will be speaking about President Trump, Syria and the “alt-right.”
“If this event is anything like my other ones, it is going to be wild. So, I hope to see you there,” Spencer said.
Auburn issued a statement Wednesday afternoon saying that while they “deplore his views,” the school supports the constitutional right to free speech, The administration encourages the school to respond to objectionable speech with “respect and inclusion.” Spencer is paying to use the space, said Auburn University spokesman Mike Clardy.
In December an event where Spencer was the main speaker led to raucous protests, from students who were angry that he was allowed to speak on campus. The protests even prompted a policy change that now requires future speakers to have on-campus sponsorship by “a recognized organization for external speakers,” CNN reported. That policy change came because university officials were “concerned about fringe and hate groups descending on campuses for the purpose of disruption.”
Email Sam Kestenbaum at [email protected]
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
