- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
- First Posted: January 27, 2011 – 5:58 pm
Last Updated: January 27, 2011 – 8:23 pm
ST. LOUIS — Bristol Palin, daughter of former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, has been invited to speak during Washington University’s Sexual Responsibility Week.
Scott Elman, president of the Student Health Advisory Committee, said Bristol Palin, who became pregnant at 17 and is now a single mom to a 2-year-old son, has been asked to be part of a panel discussion on abstinence. Elman said Thursday, however, that the university does not yet have a signed contract with Palin.
The Student Union Treasury earlier this week approved spending $20,000 to sponsor the panel, which will also include representatives from the university’s Catholic Student Center, Missouri Right To Life and Planned Parenthood, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Elman wouldn’t say how much Palin would be paid or if the other panelists would be paid. Speaker payments would come from the university’s student activity fee fund.
The panel discussion would include a 25-minute speech by Palin, an hour-long discussion and a 30-minute question-and-answer session.
The panel, which is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 7, will be free.
“The main topic of Bristol’s speech pertains to abstinence in a college setting,” Elman said. “Basically her viewpoint is she didn’t take part in abstinence. She was a victim of teen pregnancy. Realizing the hardships of that, she wished it had been talked about more.”
Members of the Student Union Treasury voted on the $20,000 payment Tuesday, and according to the minutes of the meeting, the final vote was 7-4. Discussion included questions about finding a less expensive speaker and the belief that Palin’s name would draw more people to campus.
The university’s Sexual Responsibility Week is a weeklong series of activities. It also includes a transgender speaker and discussions about tactics to defend against rape and sexual assault.
Interesting!
Pat