Hillary Clinton Getting $225,000 Speaking Fee At UNLV, Student Leaders Not Happy
Former Secretary of State and presumed 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will be paid $225,000 as a speaking fee in October at the University of Nevada- Las Vegas, and student leaders think she should donate the money.
They sent Clinton’s family foundation a letter Friday asking her to “do what is right” and donate all or part of the fee back to the university for student benefit reported the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The letter was addressed to the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton foundation in New York. It was written on behalf 23,000 UNLV students, represented by Student Body President Elias Benjelloun, who said it would not be right for her to accept the fee.
“In keeping with Secretary Clinton’s long-standing history of advocating for students in higher education, we as student government leaders are asking that she charitably donate part or all of the $225,000 speaking fee she is reportedly making for this fund raising speech back to the UNLV Foundation as a whole,” the letter said.
The fee is being paid by private donations and is not coming from university or or taxpayer funds.
Clinton usually receives about $200,000 for speaking engagement to private companies.
Appearing on local television show “Ralston Reports,” Daniel Waqar, of the student government’s public relations said “We really appreciate anybody who would come raise money for the university. But anybody who’s getting paid $225,000 to come speak, we think that’s a little bit outrageous,” according to the Huffington Post.
John Ralston, who is an influential political journalist in Nevada, ranted against the fee as well, calling it “obscene, grotesque and revolting” saying “Hillary Clinton, who advocates for affordable education, should be ashamed.” He also asked “Is anyone worth that much money?”
Clinton was criticized by the Republican National Committee, saying her speaking fee at UNLV is “more than four times what the average Nevadan makes in a year.”
“With tuition rates set to spike by 17 percent at UNLV, it’s sad that Hillary Clinton thinks she’s so broke that it’s necessary to slap them with a $225,000 speaking fee,” RNC spokesman Jahan Wilcox said.
Michael Wixom, a Nevada Board of Regents member justified the money, saying “The fee is relatively high, and I understand that. But she’s a very high profile speaker at this point.”
As reported in The inquisitr, Clinton took some heat after saying they were “dead broke” after her husband’s presidency.
Bill Clinton has earned $104.9 million in speaking fees since leaving the White House according to the Washington Post.
[Image via businessinsider.com]
