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White Nationalist Richard Spencer to Speak at Texas A&M

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By Daniel J. Solomon November 28, 2016

Richard Spencer, the white nationalist who coined the term ‘alt-right,’ will speak at an event in December on the campus of Texas A&M, according to a report in the Texas Tribune.

Spencer, who calls for the founding of a white “ethnostate,” will headline an event on campus, after an invitation from a former student at the university, who himself has attracted notoriety for his white nationalist views and rented space for the occasion.

Administrators said it was impossible to cancel the event because as a public institution the university cannot vet the speech of those who use its facilities. “Private citizens are permitted to reserve space available to the public,” communications officer Amy Smith said, adding that the event’s organizers would cover all its expenses.

Spencer, the founder of National Policy Institute, has gained more prominence with the rise of President-elect Donald Trump and the ‘alt-right,’ a group of white supremacists, white nationalists and associated ideologues.

He garnered national media attention last week after a conference in Washington, D.C., where he threw Nazi salutes and questioned the personhood of Jews, comparing to the “golem” monsters of Yiddish folklore.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter (@DanielJSolomon](www.twitter.com/DanielJSolomon)

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

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