OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha residents have raised concerns about a visit from Rachel Dolezal, who resigned as president of an NAACP chapter in Washington last year after it was revealed that she is white.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that University of Nebraska Medical Center professor Dr. Renaisa S. Anthony’s decision to bring her to Omaha to talk about race on Wednesday sparked a backlash on social media.

Anthony says she organized an invitation-only dinner with Dolezal for 25 people, including faculty, students and people from the community, as part of the university’s series of events called “Race-Inclusion-Diversity & Equity.”

Anthony welcomed the controversy, saying that she sought a “polarizing national figure” to attract people’s attention and start a conversation.