Talk Offers Alternative Viewpoint

A writer and commentator who opposes multiculturalism and diversity initiatives is scheduled to speak this evening at the College of William and Mary.

Jared Taylor, editor of the racial issues publication American Renaissance, is set to speak at 8 p.m. in the University Center’s Tidewater Room A. The event is free and open to the public.

Taylor was invited to speak by members of a student group that works on The Remnant, a conservative publication on campus. Although The Remnant is a recognized student group, it is not funded by the university, college spokesman Brian Whitson said.

School officials have worked to increase campus diversity in recent years, and although they disagree with Taylor’s viewpoint, they were not going to prevent him from speaking on campus, Whitson said.

John Kennedy, a student and one of The Remnant group members, said he invited Taylor to speak because university officials offer blind support for diversity. “Jared Taylor holds some views that I do not agree with, but he is also a very intelligent man and well-capable of defending his position through reasonable arguments,” Kennedy wrote in an e-mail.

“His talk will be about how diversity is a weakness and not a strength.”

As of Wednesday, Kennedy said, Taylor’s appearance will be unpaid, although Student Assembly members were discussing whether to cover Taylor’s travel expenses from Northern Virginia.