Former Mexican President Vicente Fox will be giving a public talk at 2:30 p.m. Monday April 17, in the Media Arts Center.
He will discuss Mexican-American relations, immigration policies and the Border Wall, according to Palo Alto High School journalism teacher Esther Wojcicki, who invited him to Paly.
Fox will share his thoughts on the topics for about 15 minutes and the majority of his event will be a question and answer period, according to Wojcicki.
Various Palo Alto High School students and community members plan to attend, after obtaining tickets through EventBrite, including senior Ahana Ganguly.
“It’s so amazing to get an opportunity to hear someone with such a unique perspective, and I’m hoping I’ll be able to learn something new about how social change can be built,” Ganguly said.
Fox’s visit to Palo Alto High School will be followed by speeches at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley according to Wojcicki.
According to Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson, the Paly administration is excited to have the event held at Paly.
“We’re looking forward to it,” Berkson said. “Since it is a minimum day, we will be setting up [early] afternoon in preparation for Mr. Fox.”
According to Wojcicki, herself and the Stanford University President will be picking Fox up from the airport tomorrow and bring him to his hotel near Town and Country Village. Later that afternoon, Fox will arrive at the MAC to speak.
While Fox is no longer a politician, he continues to engage in political discourse, most noticeably through his tweets in which Fox expresses his open disagreement with President Trump’s stances on immigration, and calls for the American public to “wake up.”
Today is "La quema de Judas" and just like Judas betrayed Jesus, @realDonaldTrump is a traitor to America and everything good it stands for. pic.twitter.com/eKepsqNY4M
— Vicente Fox Quesada (@VicenteFoxQue) April 15, 2017
It's embarrassing to see the US led by incompetence, ignorance, racism, hate, greed. America, you need to raise your voice louder.
— Vicente Fox Quesada (@VicenteFoxQue) April 11, 2017
According to Ganguly, Fox’s outspokenness is important to keep the current administration in check.
“Fox’s open attack on the Trump administration is a much-needed thing,” Ganguly said. “Especially at a time like this, when the media doesn’t know how to cope with such an abundance of misinformation and journalists are struggling to find a balance between taking our White House seriously and treating the administration’s blatant lies with an appropriate level of disregard. Plus, Fox is in a position of power, and I think he’s doing the right thing in using his platform and audience to construct such a deliberately brazen criticism of Trump’s administration.”
Fox served as President of Mexico from 2000 to 2006, a significant period in Mexican history as he was the first elected member of the opposing party in 71 years, according to britannica.com. Following his time as president, Fox went on to form the Vicente Fox Center of Studies, Library and Museum, which provides opportunities for disadvantaged citizens and promotes community development.