“I'm embarrassed to be a Rutgers alumni,” wrote one angry person about Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi being invited to speak to students at his Alma Mater, Rutgers University last week.
Another irritated alum wrote in the comments section of the New York Post, that Rutgers would not be getting a dime ever again after the college paid the “Jersey Shore” girl an outrageous sum of money.
First, the SAT used Reality TV for the essay topic, and now Rutgers University hired Snooki to give students a talk… and paid her $32,000?!!
Are we wasting our money sending our kids to college instead of letting them party their butts off?
Of course not. But in this day of instant fame procured via MTV and the likes of reality TV star-makers, it would seem this is the way to circumvent the traditional path of education leading to success.
“We're trying to provide different kinds of experiences to students,” said the group's president, Ana Castillo.
University spokesman E.J. Miranda said the organization in charge of this, Rutgers University Programming Association (RUPA), made the decision to invite Snooki based on feedback from students.
Given the recent pop-culture-predominance-in-academia trend, if I were a teacher, I'd be looking at trying to get a camera in my classroom faster than it takes to get a spray tan. It could be the way to bump up my teacher's salary. After all, the next Snooki could be sitting right in my class room!
Joking aside, having acts go to schools to 'perform' is nothing new. Snoop Dog and Lady Gaga went to Purdue University last year, and the Blue Man group entertain the students earlier this year.
The difference with these acts and the talentless east coaster, I think, is that the ones I listed actually have talent and work to produce something considered entertainment value. They create, sing, dance, act, and inspire others to discover an artistic side they may have hiding deep within them.
Snooki? I think she simply embodies the stage in life college students are currently experiencing. There's no denying that college is the time to 'party hard' while studying hard — at least the boardwalk bimbo (New York post calls her this) got this part right.
However, I'm afraid she also is the role model for those who never transitioned out of that role… and are now making the big bucks for being stuck in the party mentality.
To insult everyone's intellect even further, Snooki was paid $10,000 more that Toni Morris, a Literature Nobel Prize winner, who (thank goodness!) will be the commencement speaker at Rutgers.
So, what do you think. Did Rutgers make a mistake by having Snooki show up at the school and inspire students with such nuggets as, “Being tan makes you feel better about yourself,” and to “study hard, but party harder”?
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two words – hot. mess. i heard about this. i guess all i can say is this is what it's come to… just sad and ridiculous.
The pervasiveness of reality tv doesn't inspire confidence for the sane future of our children when it infiltrates higher education. Let's brace ourselves for more of these clowns because I just read Snooki, Pauly D and J.Woww are getting their own MTV spin off shows. Ugh.
you are lame
Hey Gene, Guess we're all free to give opinions, so yours will stand as noted. Hopefully, you are not representing a Fortune 500 Corporation, which are usually the ones who use the domain name and IP address under which you left this comment.
You are not the first “Bigwig” to leave a negative comment. I've traced several to a Hollywood studio, too. Intimidation is not something the authorities take lightly.