Texas A&M University — hoping to draw attention away from a campus talk by white nationalist Richard Spencer — spent $299,000 to promote a feel-good counter event, The Texas Tribune reports.
That amount included $17,000 on t-shirts, $11,000 for flashing LED bracelets, $60,000 for big-name musicians and a string quartet and $9,500 for an "expression wall" that event attendees could draw on, and funding for food, security officers and insurance, according to records obtained by the Tribune.
Kelly Brown, a spokeswoman for the public research school, defended the expenditure, telling the Tribune:
"Knowing that the world would be watching this event at Texas A&M University created the challenge of allowing open dialogue under a heavy security presence, but also provided an opportunity for us to demonstrate Aggie values — both to those unfamiliar with A&M, as well as to Aggie families and former students — through a large-scale university-sponsored event."
Spencer spoke on campus at a "White Lives Matter Rally" hosted by Preston Wiginton, a Texan "with deep ties to white nationalist movements," The Tribune said. After his visit, A&M redrafted one of its free-speech policies to bar speakers who are not sponsored by a campus group from using school facilities.
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