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BY HANNAH PURKEY

In print | April 24, 2008

Chelsea Clinton spoke on campus last Thursday to rally support for her mother’s candidacy. After delivering a speech entitled, “It’s Your Future; It’s Bright,” she fielded students’ questions on Senator Clinton’s policy agenda.

“[Chelsea Clinton] doesn’t come with anything prepared, she just wants to get us to support her mother,” said Romane Paul ’10, an organizer of the event. “What I like is that she had such an in-depth knowledge of her mother’s policies, in and out, numbers and everything.”

Paul estimates that around 350 students were present, some of whom were prospective students visiting campus for the college’s annual Ride the Tide weekend. “I knew that there would be a big turnout, but I didn’t expect that much,” Paul said, especially given that the event was organized on short notice.

According to Paul, the leaders of Students for Hillary Clinton were contacted about the possibility of Chelsea visiting only two nights before the event would take place. “I had e-mailed Chelsea’s scheduler and asked if she could bring Chelsea here,” Paul said. “I said that Election Day was approaching and there are tons of undecided voters here on campus, so it would be a good thing to bring her, and she contacted us a week later.”

Members of Students for Hillary Clinton met the next day with Maurice Eldridge and representatives from Public Safety, facilities and others charged with the task of setting up the event. “I called together the people who would have to manage the logistical needs of the events to see if we could actually pull it off,” Vice President Maurice Eldridge ‘61 said. “The issues turned out to be relatively few.”

Once it was determined that the event was possible, attendees of the meeting walked around campus to choose a site. Although the Amphitheater was considered, the group chose Parrish Beach West to hold the event. “[Ms. Clinton’s representatives] like putting her someplace where people can wander to the event and relax, lay down, walk away if they want to,” Paul said. “The weather was great, and all together it made for a nice venue.”

The event was only advertised to TriCo students and the college provided all the necessary security. “The event was not going to be known much outside of TriCo, which simplified things,” said Director of Public Safety Owen Redgrave. “It usually makes for a smaller crowd. So after hearing the plans, I walked out of the meeting feeling like this was an event we could handle,” he said.

Public Safety had five officers at the event, some uniformed and others plain-clothed, but this was minimal compared to the security that would have been necessary to control the crowds if one of the presidential candidates had come. “It would have been much more of a challenge,” Redgrave said. “The Secret Service would have amplified everything, not to mention the parking, the crowds and the media.”

Eldridge emphasized that the college’s decision to host Ms. Clinton after denying the Obama campaign’s request for a speaking venue was not a political maneuver. “If we can handle an event without disrupting the primary function of the college -— which is to educate -— and if the event will add to that education, we can do these things,” Eldridge said. As a nonprofit institution, the college must be even handed in deciding which events to host. “Whatever my political leanings are, the institution has to be neutral, and I try to be the guardian of that neutrality,” Eldridge said.

Many students who attended the event were impressed with Ms. Clinton not only for her extensive knowledge of her mother’s policies and capability to fully answer questions, but also for her ability as a speaker. “She spoke so well and was so articulate,” Katy Feniello ’08 said. “And she spoke to us as peers. She kept saying ‘we’ because she was speaking as part of our generation.”

Other students were less impressed with Ms. Clinton as a speaker. “It was obvious she really knew [Hillary Clinton] but it seemed like she was not very passionate,” said Summer Miller-Walfish ’11.

Whether supportive of Hillary Clinton or not, students were glad to have the opportunity to see such a distinguished public figure on campus.

“I was just so thrilled she could come to campus,” Feniello said. “It’s great to see such a big name come here.”

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