A $500-a-seat June fund-raiser for the California State University-Stanislaus Foundation will have a big draw—Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and former Republican candidate for vice president. But a state senator from San Francisco, Leland Y. Yee, has sent a letter to the university’s president, Hamid Shirvani, demanding to know how much the foundation is paying Ms. Palin to speak at the event. “At a time when students are struggling to afford an education at CSU,” Mr. Yee, a Democrat, said in a written statement, “I would hope that spending potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars on a guest speaker for a black-tie gala would be low on the priority list.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, however, the university has no intention of answering Mr. Yee’s question—the president of the foundation’s board, Matt Swanson, told the newspaper that the university’s contract with Ms. Palin forbids disclosing her fee. Mr. Swanson did say, though, that the event is expected to raise between $100,000 and $200,000 for the foundation, even after expenses.
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8 Responses to University’s Sarah Palin Event Prompts Questions From California State Senator
laurencejgillis - March 30, 2010 at 8:04 am
Your first sentence answers all questions: ” … big draw …” , The place will be packed, at $500 per seat.Thanks, Sarah. May your tribe increase.BTW, the Foundation is non-taxpayer-supported, so why doesn’t the good Senator devote his energies instead to solving California’s massive budget problems? I’ll betcha he was part of the political culture that created the problem in the first place.Larry Gillis, Cape Coral FL
haohtt - March 30, 2010 at 9:42 am
I notice that the good Senator has never complained when left-leaning political/social/celebrity figures hold fund raisers or speak on college campuses. What a transparent hypocrite.
11336803 - March 30, 2010 at 11:06 am
Actually, when Michael Moore was to speak at another Cal State event the venom flowed and the event was cancelled, so hypocrites are hypocrites are hypocrites, even when transparent.The point is it is a fund raiser (no state money spent) and should go on, if she can raise a couple of hundred thousand for the university that is a good deal.
11282042 - March 30, 2010 at 2:32 pm
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hawkeye411 - March 30, 2010 at 3:36 pm
haohtt, I’m sure you’ve been following the good senator’s career very closely, so you certainly must know what you’re talking about.
minnesotan - March 30, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Partisan politics motivate some pretty stupid behavior.
cu_alum - March 31, 2010 at 3:47 am
If the event makes money, who cares how much the speaker is paid? And even if it ends up losing money despite the planned windfall, why are the details any of the senator’s business? The Foundation is a private entity.
honore - March 31, 2010 at 9:03 am
just pathetic and very telling