The University of Tampa has canceled a speech by alumnus Alex Daoud, the former Miami Beach mayor who served a prison sentence for accepting bribes and then wrote a confessional book called "Sins of South Beach."
Top UT officials apparently were worried about the speech coming after the school's links to another corrupt politician, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, were publicized recently.
Communications professor Tom Garrett arranged the speech, which was scheduled for Wednesday, after reading Daoud's book.
After an article about it appeared in the UT student newspaper, Garrett heard from the UT president and provost that it wasn't a good idea, according to an e-mail Garrett sent Daoud over the weekend.
UT spokesman Eric Cardenas said the university "felt this was not the right time" for Daoud's appearance.
Blagojevich attended UT for two years in the 1970s; his brother, Rob Blagojevich, a prominent Tennessee businessman, graduated there and delivered last year's commencement address. Daoud graduated in 1967, an English major. He says he has paid his debt to society.
Daoud got some credit for renewal of the decaying city of Miami Beach but also fell into a culture of corruption. His book takes some shots at Chris Korge, a prominent Miami businessman who is a major Democratic fundraiser with links to the Clintons.
Daoud has spoken at other Florida universities, he said.
While he was at UT, convicted criminals came to speak to the students "to educate us on the facts of life outside the university," he said. Daoud said he never used drugs, in part because of hearing one such speaker.
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