Edward Snowden, the former U.S. government contractor who famously released secrete NSA documents in 2013, is scheduled to give a video talk at Ohio State University on November 30.
The moderated discussion will be livestreamed and hosted by the Ohio Union Student Activities Board.
OSU student Zack Miglich planned the event. He says OSU is one of at least three U.S. universities to host Snowden, who has taken asylum in Russia for the past three years.
Miglich says many students have expressed support for the event, while other students have denounced it.
"There's two sides of the fence; some people think [Snowden's] a hero while other people see him as a traitor," Miglich says.
The student group maintains they've taken a neutral position, though they did pay a speaker's fee to Snowden's agent in order to book the event.
Miglich says they anticipate the discussion to be timely and valuable, no matter which side you're on.
"You know cyber security and personal privacy, we felt like it really hit home with topics that were relevant, that people want to talk about and need to talk about," Miglich says.
The November 30 event is open only to OSU students and tickets go on sale Monday. Miglich says they're expecting a turnout of at least 1,000 students.
