Friday, March 21, 2014

Obama to Speak at UC Irvine Commencement

Yes, it's true. President Obama will take time off from golf, er, world affairs to fly out to Orange County and speak at UC Irvine's graduation on June 14-at historic Angels Stadium, no less.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/uci-606441-obama-students.html

“It’s kind of a coming of age,” said Cathy Lawhon, a spokeswoman at UCI. “(It’s) an acknowledgement on a world stage of what we’ve been able to accomplish.”


Actually, Cathy. Though it's front page news on the OC Register, if you live anywhere else, you're probably hearing about it on Fousesquawk. It's not like it's made the New York Times, you know.


But it gets better.

 "When President Johnson came to visit, it was the week or two before he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He talked about UCI becoming one of those beacons of light for social justice. And by all standards, UCI has not only met that threshold, but exceeded it."
-Vice Chancellor Thomas Parham


Price tag? Two million dollars.
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5 comments:

  1. Siarlys JenkinsMarch 21, 2014 at 7:49 PM

    UCI is paying President Obama a $2 million speaker fee? Somehow I rather doubt that.

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  2. Gary FouseMarch 22, 2014 at 9:37 AM

    For one thing, they are renting Angels Stadium for the day. Then there are things like traffic and security. I don't know the breakdown.

    No, Obama doesn't get his two million speaker fees until he leaves office.

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  3. Siarlys JenkinsMarch 22, 2014 at 7:55 PM

    Then what are you complaining about? That a public university paid a fee to hold its commencement in a nearby stadium? They have to hold it somewhere, don't they? Is it costing them two million dollars? Again, I rather doubt that.

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  4. Gary FouseMarch 22, 2014 at 8:30 PM

    Two million bucks is what UCI is telling us. According to UC, money is tight. Students are protesting higher tuition.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Siarlys JenkinsMarch 23, 2014 at 7:30 PM

    I'd like to see that broken down... what did the last five commencements cost... what are the subtotals, by category, where are the items that weren't in the last five budgets, if any?

    I could do commencement for under $100,000 I suspect, even paying union wages to the people who set up the stands. But what's UCI been paying, and is that $2 million President Obama's fault?

    ReplyDelete