Ayers Speaks on Education, Unsought Election Role

Washington

William C. Ayers had originally been expecting a cozy crowd of about a dozen people to sit around a circle with him and talk about education and his books on urban schools.

But the event here yesterday was set up six months ago—a lifetime in election season—before Mr. Ayers became a central figure in this year’s presidential campaign, with ads labeling him an “unrepentant domestic terrorist” and saying his connection with President-elect Barack Obama showed the Democrat was dangerous and couldn’t be trusted to lead America.

Mr. Ayers came to speak as a University of Illinois at Chicago distinguished education professor,...