Lest we forget: White supremacist speakers at Michigan State University
A crusading judge, a white nationalist, a marijuana advocate and a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer will provide plenty of opportunity to challenge the mind, as February gives way to March and the hope of spring.
Richard Spencer, a white supremacist, will speak on the MSU campus 4:30- 6:30 p.m., Monday, March 5. MSU first refused to let him speak due to concerns about violence, but following a lawsuit MSU agreed to let Spencer speak at the auditorium in the Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education although students will be on spring break at the time. The event is ticketed and arrangements were not available at this time, but will be handled by MSU.
Former President Lou Anna K. Simon in announcing the agreement said, “Michigan State is wholly dedicated to freedom of speech, not just as a public institution, but as an institution of higher education. Here, ideas, not people, are meant to clash and to be evaluated based on their merits.”
This is not the first clash MSU had with a white nationalist wanting to speak on campus. On May 23, 1967, George Lincoln Rockwell, the head of the American Nazi Party, spoke to 4,500 students at the MSU Auditorium. According to media accounts at the time, Star of David stickers were distributed to the audience to wear and the audience was “reserved.”
Read more: http://lansingcitypulse.com/article-15774-Lest-we-forget-White-supremacist-speakers-at-MSU.html
