In all likelihood, neither Cantor nor his staff had any idea who Friere really was.
They simply felt the need to address the person for whom the school was named...and relied on the materials supplied by the school for the background.
That isn't an excuse for such an egregious mistake. As it turned out, Cantor got used by a left-wing institution. And the fact that neither he nor his staff was astute enough to realize he was being used is damning.
I agree. He was caught off guard. In this day and age with so many leftists roaming the land it is hard to keep track of all of them. Also they tend to try to bury their past as they become more famous. Every staff needs to be aware and do more digging to avoid this kind of screw up.