Clinton returns to Wellesley, but few get to see it

WELLESLEY — Hillary Clinton’s surprise return to her alma mater on Thursday was billed as a lively question-and-answer session for members of the Wellesley College community.

But the school went to extraordinary lengths to make sure that her remarks remained virtually private. The administration initially promised a live-stream of the event to the campus community. But it reneged on that promise early Thursday afternoon, canceling the live-stream and then canceling viewing in an overflow space in the Lulu Chow Wang Campus Center. It was impossible for anyone without a ticket to Alumnae Hall to listen in on Clinton’s 90-minute talk.


The 1,000 Wellesley students, staffers and faculty inside the hall were asked to turn off cell phones.

It's the closest thing to an off-the-record, private conversation the school could provide.

The measures were taken to “ensure this remains a private Wellesley event,” the college's president, Paula Johnson, said in an email to the Wellesley community.

For many on the campus where reminders of Clinton are omnipresent — the campus gift store is stocked with Clinton action figures, after all — the opportunity to see her in a rare post-election setting was once-in-a-lifetime. Tickets to the speech were gone in a minute, multiple students and staffers said.

Clinton, a 1969 graduate of the all-women’s college in the Boston suburbs, will return to campus this spring to deliver its commencement address. It will presumably be live-streamed.