Gov. Mark Dayton will visit the University of Minnesota to speak at an invite-only event Wednesday.

The Humphrey School of Public Affairs’ Center for the Study of Politics and Governance is hosting the event “Minnesota’s Future: Challenges and Opportunities,” according to the press release.

University President Eric Kaler will give opening remarks, Dayton will give the keynote address and then will have a conversation with Larry Jacobs, a political science professor and the center’s director.

Jacobs said he did not know what the governor would talk about specifically but that he was eager to find out.

Only the center’s Policy Fellows, alumni of the fellowship program and the media are invited and can participate in the question-and-answer session with Dayton after the presentations.

Jacobs said the event is invite-only to foster a deliberative conversation between the “most serious thinkers.” Usually when Dayton comes to campus, he said, hundreds of people attend.

“It’s a little harder to have a focused conversation when you have so many people involved.”

Jacobs said an event of this kind was rare in his experience.

“It’s very unusual to get a governor to come over and open the gates for a free-wheeling conversation.”