Rep. Ron Paul to speak tonight as part of Ubben lecture series

Rep. Ron Paul, who is a three-time presidential candidate, will speak tonight in Kresge Auditorium.

Paul was also named one of Time magazines top 100 most influential people, and The Indianapolis Star named him first on the most interesting people to visit central Indiana this fall.

Doors open to students at 6:30 p.m. and the general public at 6:50 p.m. Students should bring their student ID.

Hes a well known spokesperson for the social ideological movement of libertarianism, said Brett OBannon, professor of political science.

OBannon believes that this is a good opportunity for students to better understand Libertarianism.

Its an opportunity to see someone widely associated with these doctrines defend them, OBannon said. Its an opportunity to pose a question or two to the standard bearer of contemporary Libertarianism, perhaps to get him to defend some of his controversial stuff or better explain some of his stuff. One particular controversial issue surrounding Paul is that he will be giving a keynote address at the Fatima Centers Path to Peace conference in Niagra Falls, Ontario, right after speaking at DePauw. The conference is known to host some radical views.

He has things to answer for, OBannon said. [The] conference widely hailed to anti-semitic and racist sponsored by the Fatima Center. He ought to perhaps be questioned on that. Ken Owen 82, executive director of media relations and coordinator for the Ubben Lecture Series, noted that initially, he was concerned by the news of his keynote speech.

Pauls speaker agency is run by a person of the Jewish faith, and several of the employees for the firm are Jewish, as well.

The first thing I did was call over there, and their response was basically, Theres no way. Hes not an anti-semite. We work with him everyday. We spend a lot of time around him. Hes a good man. Disregard it, Owen said.

Owen noted that the accusations generated through the blogosphere, and Owen has faced some pushback for many speakers that have come to campus.

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Rep. Ron Paul to speak tonight as part of Ubben lecture series