School’s Out : Don Bosco Administrators Cancel Visit by GOP’s Buchanan

This time the cheer wasn’t “Go, Pat, Go!” It was: “No, Pat, No!”

Students at Don Bosco Technical Institute in Rosemead had invited Republican presidential candidate Pat Buchanan to visit the campus Sunday to call attention to a space technology project they’ve been developing. Buchanan, just beginning his campaign for the March 26 California primary, had accepted.

But Wednesday, teachers told disappointed students that administrators of the Catholic school had canceled the visit, citing complaints from teachers and parents.

Instructor Peter Romero said school officials told him it would be bad publicity for a school that is more than 90% Latino to be host to a candidate whose views on immigration include pledging to build a wall to separate the United States from Mexico.

“They didn’t want to be associated with Buchanan,” he said.

Father Nicholas J. Reina, president of the combined high school and two-year college, denied he had received complaints of any kind from parents or teachers. Reina said he canceled the visit because he didn’t want the school, a nonprofit institution, to appear to be supporting a candidate.

Reina’s students had extended invitations to all presidential candidates, but only Buchanan--himself a product of a Catholic education--had agreed to come.

Students expressed disappointment with the administrator’s decision, saying that while they did not agree with many of Buchanan’s views, they wanted the opportunity to publicize their “Space Islands” proposal, in which the space shuttle’s fuel tanks could be reused and linked together to create a space station. The idea is the brainchild of West Covina author and industrial engineer Gene Meyer, who contends that it would be cheaper than current NASA space station plans and would preserve aerospace jobs.

Canceling Buchanan’s appearance is “a tragedy,” said student Craig Cocca, 17, a senior. “It completely goes against what the school stands for. We’re taught to explore new ideas, no matter where they come from. They’re not allowing us to learn for ourselves.”

Buchanan operatives were dismayed by the school’s move. Campaign workers had already visited the campus, and the Secret Service had made preliminary calls to teachers to arrange the event.

“We thought [Space Islands] was an excellent idea for Pat,” said Don Tutich of the Buchanan campaign office in Monrovia. He said the candidate was interested in the school’s idea because he believes it would create jobs for American workers.

Meyer said the campaign stop by Buchanan would have been a boost for the students’ efforts, but he wasn’t surprised that the political commentator had been scratched.

“He’s a polarizing kind of guy,” he said.