Spokespeople: Hillary Clinton’s Speech at UConn Wasn’t Funded by Students or Taxpayers

Spokespeople for the University of Connecticut said the $250,000 paid to Hillary Clinton to speak on its campus in April came entirely from foundation funds that could only be used for guest speakers.

The university received some criticism for paying the sum when it recently raised tuition by 6.5 percent, but university spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz said no taxpayer or student money went toward Clinton’s fee, according to the Associated Press.

Deb Cunningham, interim vice president for communications at the University of Connecticut Foundation, told The Day that the money used to bring Clinton to UConn came from a donation from Edmund Fusco and his family, of New Haven.

Clinton’s speech was part of the Edmund Fusco Contemporary Issues Forum.

National Review Online reported that Clinton was the second speaker to come to campus in the Fusco program. She followed Doris Kearns Goodwin, a historian, who spoke in October 2012.