Tulane will host former Speaker of the House and presidential candidate Newt Gingrich on Friday afternoon in Richardson Memorial Hall. Gingrich is in Louisiana to campaign for the state’s primary on Saturday.

Gingrich studied history at Tulane. He graduated with a Master’s degree in 1968 and with a Ph.D. in 1972.

The Tulane College Republicans are sponsoring the event, which is free and open to the public.

Tulane College Republicans Chief of Staff Nicolas Callais said that when he suggested that Gingrich come to speak at Tulane at a campaign event he attended earlier this month, the campaign got on board.

“I spoke to the speaker this past Saturday about coming here and spoke to people close to his campaign with Tulane connections, and so here we are hosting the Speaker,” Callais said.

Callais said he reached out to all the candidates to make campus appearances, but Gingrich was the first to respond.

Students have mixed opinions about Gingrich’s appearance on campus.

Junior Kirby Voss said that Gingrich is no longer relevant in the national election.

“I’m not very excited to see him because I don’t think that he is a viable choice for the presidency of the United States of America.” Voss said. “I think that he is, on the whole, hypocritical, arrogant, self-serving, deceitful and morally corrupt, and all politics aside, I don’t think that he has the moral aptitude to serve as our president.”

Callais said he believes that Gingrich would be a better option than President Barack Obama.

“My opinion is that, frankly, any of the candidates in the current field would be a far better president than President Obama,” Callais said. “I think specifically, Gingrich brings a wealth of knowledge to the table, and he knows how to get things accomplished with a divided government.”

Junior Perry Faulkner said he is excited to see Gingrich speak, especially with the speaker’s Tulane connection.

“I think it’s about time Tulane recognizes the presidential election and welcomes one of the Republican candidates,” Faulkner said. “I think it’s great that they’re inviting Newt, who has a degree from Tulane, to come to campus.”