Former vice presidential candidate John Edwards will speak April 10 at 8:00 p.m. in Bender Arena, after $15,000 was appropriated to pay for the event by the General Assembly, the legislative branch of the Student Confederation.
The assembly approved the Kennedy Political Union's request for the funds on Sunday. Edwards will speak as part of the annual Artemas Ward Festival.
KPU previously requested $60,000 for a different speaker, but negotiations fell through and the individual ultimately declined the invitation to come speak, SC President Polson Kanneth said. KPU was able to secure Edwards as its guest speaker at one-fourth of that cost.
After the Kerry-Edwards ticket lost the presidential election in November, Edwards formed the One America Committee, a political action committee dedicated to electing Democratic candidates. Edwards is also currently serving as a visiting fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics.
Co-sponsors of the KPU event comprise the SC, Artemas Ward Week, Greek Week, the Graduate Leadership Council, the SIS Undergraduate Council and Democracy Matters, a national activism group.
