Bernie Sanders tour of historically black colleges to include FAMU

Bernie Sanders

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders plans to include Florida A&M University on his campaign tour of historically black colleges and universities, which begins Thursday in South Carolina.

Sanders, a U.S. Senator from Vermont, has not yet set a date for the FAMU stop. The university is among nine schools he plans to visit throughout the south, his campaign announced Monday.

Sanders would be the first presidential candidate to speak on the FAMU campus since then-Sen. Barack Obama in 2007, school officials said.

Sanders first HBCU stop will be Thursday, at South Carolina State University. That appearance will also feature philosophy professor Cornel West, who will discuss a wide range of issues, including making public colleges and universities tuition-free, and criminal justice reform, the Sanders campaign announced.

The HBCU tour, and the inclusion of West, one of the best-known and more controversial speakers on race relations in the United States, may address criticism within the Democratic Party that Sanders credentials have not been impressive to the party’s African-American constituency.

Scott Powers

Scott Powers is an Orlando-based political journalist with 30+ years’ experience, mostly at newspapers such as the Orlando Sentinel and the Columbus Dispatch. He covers local, state and federal politics and space news across much of Central Florida. His career earned numerous journalism awards for stories ranging from the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster to presidential elections to misplaced nuclear waste. He and his wife Connie have three grown children. Besides them, he’s into mystery and suspense books and movies, rock, blues, basketball, baseball, writing unpublished novels, and being amused. Email him at [email protected].


One comment

  • Justin R

    January 11, 2016 at 6:25 pm

    I’m a student at TCC I hope Bernie sees this and I want to attend. I’m working the elections and I’m proud to be apart of this process and our government and Bernie has my vote and everyone who’ve I talked to!

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