Sen. Norm Coleman’s two-day campaign swing through the state with Gov. Tim Pawlenty will include a stop at the University of St. Thomas’ St. Paul campus at 6 p.m. Tuesday in McNeely Hall.

The tour by the state’s two top Republican office-holders in support of Coleman’s re-election campaign also includes Tuesday stops in Farmington, Inver Grove Heights, Arden Hills, Hugo, Ham Lake, Anoka and Otsego. On Wednesday, stops include Willmar, St. Cloud, Sauk Centre, Glenwood, Morris and Alexandria.

The St. Thomas visit, sponsored by the school’s College Republican organization, comes while  students at the College of St. Catherine — just a mile from St. Thomas — are protesting that school’s decision to ban partisan speakers in the days leading up to the election.

The all-female Catholic school turned away visits by conservative commentator Bay Buchanan, a leading supporter of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, and by former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.

St. Kate’s President Andrea J. Lee posted a letter on the matter to trustees on the college website.