It’s not surprising that Richard Spencer, St. Mark’s School alumni and founder of the alt-right movement, made national news when he quoted Nazi propaganda in a controversial speech after Donald Trump was elected.
According to a New York Times article, during an alt-right conference Spencer said “America was, until this last generation, a white country designed for ourselves and our posterity. It is our creation, it is our inheritance, and it belongs to us.”
But Spencer’s comments were not met without backlash, especially by his classmates.
According to a Dallas Morning News article, his former classmates have launched an CrowdRise fundraiser in Spencer’s name that benefits the International Rescue Commission, a nonprofit that assists refugees in Dallas.
The fundraiser already has exceeded its $50,000 goal, with 764 donors raising $57,034 in roughly a week. Some donors have chosen to remain anonymous, but many are identified as St. Mark’s and Hockaday alumni.
A statement on the CrowdRise website was updated to say: “We, friends and alumni of all classes of St. Mark’s School of Texas, honor the values with which we were raised and educated: respect, compassion, service, and a vision of our city and country that includes people of all races, religions, and origins. We are of different political parties and views, but unite in recognizing that these values are under attack by our white supremacist classmate Richard B. Spencer ’97.
“Spencer’s views are un-American and a threat to civil society. We reject them and urge everyone to join us in condemning him and his agenda.”
