Richard Spencer Visits Prompts Texas A&M To Change Speech Policies

Richard Spencer Image by YouTube Screenshot

By Daniel J. Solomon March 25, 2017

Following white nationalist Richard Spencer’s address on campus last November, officials at Texas A&M are changing their campus’ speech policies so that, in the future, outside speakers will need the sponsorship of a student organization in order to reserve university space for an event.

“As one of the stewards for protecting and enhancing the brand, this is particularly troubling to me as the influx of these outside groups may connote to your viewers an environment of acceptance by our campus when none are actually our students or faculty,” Amy Smith, communications officer at Texas A&M, told CNN, explaining the new policy.

Spencer, who calls for the founding of a white “ethno-state,” headlined a heavily-picketed event on campus, after an invitation from a former student at the university, who himself had 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 could not vet the speech of those who used its facilities. “Private citizens are permitted to reserve space available to the public,” Smith said at the time, adding that the event’s organizers would cover all its expenses.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @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.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO