Kevin Sumlin had nothing but positive words for Texas A&M, after the school intervened and ended a planned white nationalist rally. The “White Lives Matter” rally was called off by school officials. Who claimed that the event posed a “major security risk.”
“I’m really proud of [the school’s decision],” Sumlin told reporters over the weekend. “I was thankful and very, very proud of Chancellor [John] Sharp and our president to put an end to it.”
The rally had been planned by a former Texas A&M student named Preston Wiginton. The former student claimed that the recent events in Charlottesville inspired him to organize the event. Wiginton also said that he planned to invite white nationalist Richard Spencer to the event.
Hearing that Spencer might make an appearance at the event could have been what prompted school officials to intervene. Spencer gave a speech on A&M’s campus back in December, an event which brought out hundreds of protesters.
“[This is a time] when leadership comes to the front, and our leadership did that,” Sumlin said. “We’ve talked about that as a team too, and our appreciation for our leadership to step in. It’s big for the players, big for our coaching staff — it’s big for everybody.”