Public University Hosts ‘Non-Partisan’ Get-Out-The-Vote Event with Chelsea Clinton

Win McNamee/Getty Images
Win McNamee/Getty Images

The public University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh hosted a “non-partisan” get-out-the-vote rally featuring Chelsea Clinton on Wednesday afternoon.

The event, which students registered for on Hillary Clinton’s campaign website, was advertised by school administrators as a non-partisan effort to encourage students to vote.

A Facebook post from Oshkosh’s Student Association about the event claims that Chelsea Clinton’s appearance should not be viewed as an endorsement of any particular candidate. The post linked directly to Hillary Clinton’s campaign website, where students and faculty could sign up to attend the rally.

OSA is excited to announce that your student government will be hosting A Get Out The Vote event tomorrow November 2nd, at 4:15pm in Reeve 227AB the guest speaker will be Chelsea Clinton. Doors will open at 3:15 and it is a first come first serve event. Backpacks will not be allowed in, please leave them by the lockers in Reeve.

Disclaimer: OSA is non partisan the hosting of this event is to encourage political engagement and should not be seen as an endorsement. No student funding was used to host this event. OSA did not and does not seek out guests for these events. If any campaigns would like to send a guest to UWO, they will need to reach out.

After Oshkosh community members voiced their concerns about the event’s transparently partisan nature, Austyn K. Booth, the president of the Oshkosh Student Association, released a statement on Thursday in an attempt to convince community members that Clinton’s visit to campus was nothing more than a non-partisan effort to encourage students to vote:

UW Oshkosh Students-

On November 2nd, the Hillary Clinton campaign made a stop at UW Oshkosh where we had the opportunity to join in an event with Chelsea Clinton. Clinton was here on behalf of her mother’s campaign and spent almost an hour with students and Oshkosh community members.
When the campaign staff contacted UW Oshkosh, the Oshkosh Student Association (OSA) offered to welcome and host the campaign staff and supporters, as we would for any campaign making a stop on our campus.

I understand this caused confusion, as it appeared that OSA arranged and sponsored this event. OSA is a non-partisan organization serving the entire student body and did not invite the campaign here nor did we provide financial support for the event. We did openly welcome the opportunity to host Chelsea Clinton and were excited to provide this experience to the campus community. Hosting this event was not an endorsement of a political candidate but rather a chance for UW Oshkosh students to engage with the Presidential race. We would happily welcome other candidates that request to use our campus facilities as well.

I am sorry for the confusion this caused.
Sincerely,

Austyn K. Booth

Tom Ciccotta is a libertarian who writes about Free Speech and Intellectual Diversity for Breitbart. You can follow him on Twitter @tciccotta or email him at tciccotta@breitbart.com

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