Snooki had a busy weekend: first performing at a jam-packed Rutgers event and then pinning Michelle McCool on Sunday's WWE WrestleMania 27.
Only the pint-sized reality star famous for her hard partying lifestyle and hair pouf could make appearing at the Garden State University more controversial than her wild WrestleMania appearance. I would like to say it's only entertainment, but inviting Snooki to perform at Rutgers University and paying her 32K does make me squirm a bit.
Snooki got the big bucks for giving students advice on getting the perfect hair pouf among other things. Ironically, she was paid more than Rutgers is paying Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison to give the commencement address. Morrison cut her usual appearance fee in half because she used to teach at Rutgers.
Snooki's Rutger's performance included such philosophical gems as:
Study hard, but party harder...
When you’re tan, you feel better about yourself...
Obviously Snooki is an expert on making her Jersey Shore reality show a big hit, but was her university appearance worth 32K? I'm not convinced she had anything insightful to offer the Rutger students. But I guess that is the NOT the point. Snooki is Snooki. And the students wanted entertainment, not a lecture on philosophy.
What would I say to the Rutgers parents upset that the self-proclaimed "guidette" appeared at Rutgers? I don't think telling the angry parents that "it's only entertainment" would change their opinion. I don't blame them for being upset. Snooki's appearance did come at a big price during a recession when parents are losing sleep over how they can pay for their kids tuition. According to the blog AceShowBiz:
Although the school has defended their decision of spending $32,000 to hire the "Jersey Shore" star as guest speaker, many parents were fuming that she got paid nearly $10,000 more than they pay annually to send one kid to the Garden State university.
Snooki is entertaining. She attracted big crowds at two events at Rutgers. I don't blame the student-run university organization for inviting her. Just wondering if Snooki could have cut her hefty appearance fee–or shared some of her appearance fee with a worthwhile charity of her choice.