Richard Spencer May Speak At University Of Florida

Richard Spencer Image by Getty Images

By Daniel J. Solomon August 16, 2017

Richard Spencer, the “alt-right” leader at the center of the weekend’s Charlottesville crisis, may speak on the University of Florida’s campus in September, thanks to rules that allow outside groups to hold events at the public college.

“For many in our community, including myself, this speaker’s presence would be deeply disturbing. What we’ve watched happen in Charlottesville … is deplorable,” wrote university president W. Kent Fuchs in a letter to students.

Kent added: “This organization is unaffiliated with the university, and no student groups or other groups affiliated with the university are sponsoring this speech.” The University of Florida, located in Gainesville, allows outside groups to use space on campus because taxpayer dollars fund the institution.

Spencer, who coined the term “alt-right” and envisions a white “ethnostate,” had initially wanted to hold a “White Lives Matter” rally on the campus of Texas A&M, but that move was nixed by campus administrators there.

He appeared at the Texas school in March, in a divisive and violent appearance that led the university to restrict the right of outside groups to use space on campus.

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.

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