Buchanan visit opposed

UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — A city commissioner doesn’t want conservative commentator Pat Buchanan to speak at Western Michigan University.

Mr. Buchanan, a former White House aide who ran for president three times, is scheduled to speak Thursday at the university on topics including immigration and America’s “culture war.” Commissioner David Juarez said Mr. Buchanan has a “track record of creating divisions” among races, the Kalamazoo Gazette reported.

“Bringing speakers like this to our universities is not a good way of promoting racial harmony,” Mr. Juarez said at a commission meeting last week. “This is not a time when we need division amongst ourselves.”

Western Michigan University spokesman Matt Kurz said a university is about the free exchange of ideas.

“We bring in people with all kinds of different views that are important for our students to hear and important for building a learning community,” Mr. Kurz said. “We, as a society, progress by having those debates and accepting all points of view.”

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