http://www.connpost.com/news/ci_3048307BRIDGEPORT — The Rev. Sun Myung Moon is renting space at the University of Bridgeport's Cox Student Center for a private banquet tonight, university officials confirmed Tuesday.
The 86-year-old leader of the Unification Church is on a 12-city speaking tour to launch the Interfaith Universal Peace Federation.
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The visit comes as the university was beginning to distance itself from a group many view as a cult.
Moon's group, acting through the Professors World Peace Academy, has pumped more than $100 million into the university since it saved it from financial ruin in 1992. In exchange, the PWPA gets to name 60 percent of the university's board of trustees.
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Sen. Bill Finch, D-Bridgeport, said Tuesday the visit proves Moon's hold over UB remains solid.
"I'm not surprised. He owns the place," said Finch. "So long as Moon has influence over the school it will be a second-rate institution owned by a cult leader who calls the shots. Moon has never owned anything he doesn't control."
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