RIPON, Wis. – Although Vice President Mike Pence will speak Friday at Ripon College on a quick Wisconsin tour as part of the Trump re-election campaign, his campus reception will be cool. The college president, Zach Messitte, told campus people  that the school hadn’t organized the event but merely rented out a room to the campaign. Messitta acknowledged there was a “mixed response” to Pence’s visit. “I respect that there are people who disagree with my decision,” Messitte, said. “While we all have our own personal political opinions, it bears repeating that Ripon College does not endorse political candidates.” Pence will speak at a closed-door event. Messitta said he told Pence’s advance people that the vice president and  everyone attending must wear a mask and maintain a six-foot social distance, in accordance with college protocols against the coronavirus. In Washington, the Pence campaign staff did not immediately respond to questions about whether Pence would abide by the protocols. Earlier the campaign said that Pence would speak about Trump’s agenda and “the rejection of socialist policies.”  The community of Ripon claims to have been the birthplace of the Republican Party in 1854, but Pence doesn’t plan to visit the schoolhouse where party organizers met back then.  Ripon College prides itself on a liberal arts curriculum. It has 800 students, few of whom are on campus in the summer.

PENCE: Will he mask? Or not?