Dallas classmates of Richard Spencer protest him with crowdfunding

At least some members of the St. Mark’s School of Texas Class of 1997 are uniting in opposition to classmate Richard B. Spencer, the outspoken neo-Nazi and leader of the “alt-right” movement who has gained a measure of notoriety since Donald Trump’s election victory.

Spencer grew up in North Texas and attended the nonsectarian all-boys prep school in Dallas. He is credited with coining the term alt-right in 2008 to describe “the radical conservative movement defined by white nationalism and a fervent resistance to multiculturalism and globalism.” He told The Dallas Morning News that Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton was one of the greatest moments of his life.

A fundraising campaign on crowdrise.com, led by “concerned alumni from the Class of 1997,” has been established with a goal of raising $20,000 for the International Rescue Committee, the principal agency in Dallas for welcoming and resettling refugees.

As of Friday afternoon, more than $15,000 had been raised.

During a rally held Sunday in Washington, D.C., Spencer, who heads an organization called the National Policy Institute, electrified his followers with a speech that hit on Nazi propaganda and included him calling out, “Hail Trump! Hail our people!” and then, “Hail victory!” as some followers outstretched their right arm in a Nazi-era salute.

The St. Mark’s Crowdrise page explained the purpose for the fundraising campaign:

“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 politically heterogeneous but unite in considering these values under attack by our white supremacist classmate Richard B. Spencer '97.

We repudiate Spencer and urge others to join us.

The International Rescue Committee is the principal agency in Dallas for welcoming and resettling refugees — people whose lives have been wrecked by tragedies greater than most of us can fathom, and whose integration into our society may be difficult, for them and sometimes for us. It would be cowardly to fear them. We proudly support IRC’s efforts and denounce those who insist on seeing refugees as a threat, rather than as a source of American strength and pride, like the many previous generations of Americans who have come here under similar circumstances.”

Spencer has said he plans to travel to college campuses to speak to students about his aims. According go the Austin American-Statesman, Spencer is scheduled to speak at Texas A&M on Dec. 6. A&M officials quickly distanced the university from Spencer, releasing a statement that read:

“There has been deep concern expressed by our Aggie community about an individual planning to speak at our campus. To be clear, Texas A&M University — including faculty, staff, students and/or student groups — did not invite this speaker to our campus nor do we endorse his rhetoric in any way. In fact, our leadership finds his views as expressed to date in direct conflict with our core values.

“Private citizens are permitted to reserve space available to the public as we are a public university as is the case here. Public groups must cover all rental expenses so that state resources are not burdened. This rental is classified as a “Class 5: non-Texas A&M University-related” use of public space in the school’s events guidelines typically reserved for community events, wedding receptions and local high school events.”

This story was originally published November 25, 2016 at 3:20 PM with the headline "Dallas classmates of Richard Spencer protest him with crowdfunding."