(CNN)When Richard Spencer arrived at Texas A&M on Tuesday, bringing his message of white supremacy, he did so against the wishes of university officials.
Protesters plan to demonstrate on campus and a university-sponsored event is scheduled to counter his presence.
The town of College Station can thank one of its residents, Aggie alum Preston Wiginton, for extending Spencer an invitation to campus. Since the school is a public university, the event can go on as scheduled, officials said.
In a Monday interview on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360," Wiginton said Spencer's message contained some "valid points" that the election of Donald Trump has further validated.
"I think (the United States) was at one time (a white nation)," Wiginton told CNN. "I think the reaction to Trump being elected, and the reaction with the alt-right being popular, is a reaction to it declining as a white nation."
Spencer spoke to reporters on Tuesday afternoon, hours ahead of his speech. "This obviously has caused a huge scene," he said. The university's reaction to his speaking "shows the power of the alt-right and the power of our ideas."
A hate supreme
Until Monday night, Wiginton had only known Spencer through online circles. But the College Station resident wanted to bring to campus the president of the National Policy Institute, an alt-right group known for espousing views of white supremacy, because he wanted to spread the message that white people face marginalization.
"Why would I want to see America become less white?" Wiginton said. "Why would I want to be displaced and marginalized?"
A recent Spencer speech in Washington drew major criticism for its hate-filled rhetoric that prompted attendees to give Nazi salutes in Trump's honor.
Alt-right leader: 'Hail Trump! Hail our people! Hail victory!'
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, an advocacy group that tracks white supremacists, Wiginton once said he wanted to "prevent the populations of 'white nations' from becoming what he has termed 'a homogenous muddle of sludge.'" In his CNN interview, Wiginton said he was misquoted, but that the larger point still holds true.
"It's not just pigment," he said. "It's people's behavior, people's IQ, people evolve over different time and places."