On March 31, Rutgers University had Nicole Polizzie, aka Snooki, from the cast of “Jersey Shore” speak to students at a packed auditorium. That in itself is disheartening enough, but what’s truly nauseating is the fact that the notable school paid the reality star more than it did author Toni Morrison who will give the university’s commencement address in May.
Yes, you heard correctly. The woman who specializes in performing cartwheels while intoxicated and has, literally, made a profession out of having casual sex in hot tubs is now considered more vital to the academic world than a Nobel Prize winner.
The university paid the reality star a sickening $32,000 to speak at two shows. During the no-doubt-scholarly lecture, Snooki shared that she buys hairspray and bronzer every week. I’m sure the Dalai Lama has the same compulsion.
The Dalai Lama once said, “In the practice of tolerance, one’s enemy is the best teacher.” Fellow Nobel Prize winner Kofi Annan is quoted as saying, “In their greatest hour of need, the world failed the people of Rwanda.” Snooki’s profound statement? “I may not have a lot of common sense, but I’m very proud of my book.” Get a load of those words of wisdom. I’ll have to stitch that on a pillow.
I’m not sure what’s more depressing: that the university considers the woman who’s greatest achievement is making it this far without a DUI above a notable speaker such as Toni Morrison, or that I can almost guarantee you that having the sleazy reality star, whose shows sold out, will most likely rake in more students than the notable Nobel Prize winner.
Snooki’s most elaborate cont-ribution to the lecture? Styling a student’s hair on stage to look like her trademark “poof.” Does Rutgers know that people in beauty school would have done the same thing for a $3 tip? It would have saved the university a lot of money.
She went on to say that her hair poof “is its own living form.” Hair is made up of dead cells. It’s not living. Try again, Snook.
Then, again, I’m hoping the college students in the audience didn’t take Snooki’s words seriously. After all, she’s not a Nobel Prize Winner. She just gets paid more than one.
Snooki claimed that she wanted to write her novel because, “I’m smart.” You write a novel because you’re inspired, because you want to inspire others. You don’t pen a novel to prove something to people. If you want to show the public that you’re intelligent, Snooki, act like it. Don’t get arrested for disturbing the peace and have the judge call you a “Lindsay Lohan wannabe.”
I’m very proud to say that NSU has never stooped so low. We’ve had incredibly talented people lecture at our school in the Distinguished Speakers Series including Nobel Prize winners such as the Dalai Lama. Desmond Tutu and Dr. Philip Zimbardo are among the many others who have been inspiring leaders and professionals in their fields.
These are the types of people who should be speaking to our society’s future. Speakers at a university represent what a school stands for, what the school hopes to impart on its students. I’m not sure what Rutgers is trying to say to its students with Snooki. The best they can hope for is that you don’t have to be talented to be famous. Just promiscuous, plebeian and puerile.
Never before has the term Distinguished Speakers meant so much to me. NSU really is extraordinary for the people it finds to speak to its students. We’ve had pioneers in several fields inform us about the intricacies in everything from the mind to the body to the soul and beyond.
