Inviting a former governor to speak split my department in two

Back in 2016 I sat on our campus events board and we had to pick between a former governor who was known for some pretty harsh immigration takes and a local civil rights lawyer. The board went 6 to 4 in favor of the governor, and I voted nay but helped with the logistics anyway. The night of the talk, about 80 protesters showed up outside the hall and the governor gave his speech while three students walked out mid-sentence. We had a feedback session after and the whole thing left me wondering if we should have just gone with the lawyer, but honestly the tension did spark some real talk in the seminars for weeks. Has anyone else voted against a speaker and then seen the fallout reshape how their campus handles invites?

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