Former President Bill Clinton will discuss the William J. Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative at the First United Bank Center on April 24.
The event starts at 8:00 p.m. and the doors will open at 7:30 p.m. The Distinguished Lecture Series committee said they expect the FUBC to reach capacity of 5,500, so attendees are encouraged to arrive early for seating.
Due to President Clinton’s recognized presidency and his future work, the DLS committee sought to recruit him.
“Clinton is a distinguished speaker,” Colton Risinger, a junior Political Science major, said. “Not only is he a former President, post-presidency he has been highly active in humanitarian work through his foundation and still has influence in foreign affairs.”
Not only is the event free to the public, this event has had minimal cost for the University.“It is not every day that one gets to listen to a United States President for free,” Brandy Roberts, a junior Business Management major and student body president, said. “There were no fees included to have the former president come to the University. However, WT did make a $100,000 donation to the Flight 93 Memorial.”
The Flight 93 Memorial honors the people who overtook Al-Qaida terrorists and brought down their plane to save the capitol from attack on Sept. 11, 2001. While more than ten years have passed, the memorial still requires additional funds to pay its respects.
“One of the committee members heard that Bill Clinton would speak in lieu of a donation to the memorial fund,” Roberts said. “All we had to do was make a donation to a great cause. We are considered an ‘honorary contributor’ to the memorial, and we will have a plaque on the memorial due to our donation.”
President Clinton’s speech should be between 25-30 minutes with a question-and-answer immediately following. If a student is interested in asking the president a question, the question should be submitted at [email protected] along with the name, major and classification of the student.
“He will be discussing both of his foundations,” Roberts said. “These are both parts of Bill Clinton’s philanthropic efforts, which follow the theme of the event: philanthropy and WT’s donation to the Flight 93 Memorial.”
Several people have critiqued both the speaker and the amount of money spent on bringing him to campus. However, others have applauded his efforts and are encouraging their classes to attend this event.
“I know some people have been, at times, critical about the amount we are donating,” Matt Maples, associate director of Student Activities, said. “But this event is significant for both the University and the community. We have a chance do provide much-needed conversation about national and global affairs.”
In conjunction with the event, those attending are encouraged to bring peanut butter to help the Snack Pak 4 Kids program. Snack Pak 4 Kids provides amenities to feed students over the weekend period.
