Nevada university student leaders demand Hillary Clinton return 'outrageous' $225,000 speaking fee for her fundraiser keynote address



Two University of Las Vegas student government leaders appeared on local TV asking the ex-secretary of state to give the money back to the college



The $225,000 fee is being paid from private funds, not from student tuition



Mrs Clinton has come under fire for claiming she is 'not truly well off' despite a massive net worth

She typically collects $200,000 per speech, but she has agreed to speak at clean energy event in September for free



Clinton will keynote a University of Nevada, Las Vegas fundraising gala in October

The university just instituted a 4 per cent increase on tuition for each of the next four years, and has nearly tripled tuition in the last decade



Sponsorships at the October gala will cost as much as $20,000



Students seeing red: Student leaders at the University of Las Vegas have called on Hillary Clinton to return the $225,000 speaking fee she is expected to receive for a keynote address

Two student leaders at the University of Las Vegas have called on Hillary Clinton to return the $225,000 speaking fee she is expected to receive for delivering a keynote address at an upcoming event.

UNLV student body president Elias Benjelloun and the student government’s public relations director Daniel Waqar appeared on a local talk show Friday, condemning UNLV's foundation for paying Clinton an 'outrageous' sum of money for speaking at a fundraiser in October.

‘We really appreciate anybody who would come to raise money for the university. But anybody who's being paid $225,000 to come speak, we think that's a little bit outrageous,’ Waqar told political journalist Jon Ralston, the host of News3's Ralston Reports.

‘And we'd like Secretary Clinton — respectfully — to gracefully return the money to the university or the foundation.’

The massive payout to the former secretary of state was confirmed just weeks after the university formalized a 4 per cent tuition increase for each of the next four years. Rate hikes have nearly tripled tuition costs there since 2004.

Waqar, 19, added that a letter will go out to Mrs. Clinton asking her to ‘donate the money back to students.’

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Going public: UNLV student body president Elias Benjelloun (left) and the student government's public relations director Daniel Waqar (right) appeared on a local talk show Friday, condemning UNLV's foundation for the speaking fee flap

Bold request: The UNLV students told political journalist Jon Ralston (left) that Mrs Clinton should return the money to the university or the foundation

'Donating the money back would be an example of her standing for higher education and standing for students,’ the UNLV junior said.



He pointed out that $225,000 is enough to award 225 students scholarships of $1,000 each.

The Republican National Committee released a statement Friday saying Clinton’s UNLV speaking fee is four times the amount of the medical household income in Nevada in 2012,

Clinton will deliver the keynote address at an invitation-only gala for philanthropists and other high-dollar donors who support UNLV. The university said private funds are being used to cover her six-figure speaking fee.

But students see a zero-sum financial gain in which that money could have chipped away at tuition increases.

Cashing in: Former Secretary of State and first lady Hillary Clinton is promoting her memoirs in a nationwide book tour, but will drop by Sin City in October for a $225,000 payday

'Not really well off': Following a blistering 2012 presidential campaign in which Democrats pilloried Republican Mitt Romney for being super-wealthy and out of touch, Clinton risks falling into that category

'$225,000? That's obscene!' UNLV student Jordan Mason told MailOnline earlier this week. 'And the money is all fungible, right? Even if some CEO is writing the check, that's money that the person probably would have given to the university in some other way.'



'I like Hillary,' Mason added, 'but if she's not willing to support us without all that money changing hands, maybe they should book someone else who won't add to the reasons we're paying more for school.'

Benjelloun, UNLV’s undergraduate student body president, told the Las Vegas Sun this month that the school's trustees were trying to improve its offerings 'on the backs of students.'

Diplomatic: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who is co-sponsoring a clean energy conference in September where Mrs Clinton is expected to speak for free, sidestepped the UNLV scandal, saying it was not his decision

It is important to note that a month before the October fundraiser, Mrs Clinton is expected to speak for free at an energy conference that is being sponsored by the university and Senator Harry Reid.



On Thursday, the U.S. Senate majority leader diplomatically sidestepped the speaking fee flap when interviewed by Las Vegas Review-Journal.



‘Anything we can do to focus attention on UNLV, that’s extremely important to do, and this certainly will focus attention on UNLV, and that’s why they have these people come,’ Reid said.



The Nevada Democrat went on to describe Bill and Hillary Clinton are his good friends as a way to explain the former secretary of state’s willingness to address the Clean Energy Summit on September 4 without requiring payment.



He then added that Mrs Clinton has long been committed to the cause of promoting clean energy.

Mr Reid also noted that it is not unusual from public figures and former political leaders to charge speaking fees.



‘It's part of our free-enterprise system,' he said.



Clinton has attracted eye-rolls and guffaws from Republicans, Democrats and TV anchors alike for her recent claims that she and her husband Bill Clinton are 'not truly well off' and were 'dead broke' hen they left the White House in 2001.



She told the Guardian last Saturday that Americans won't hold her big paydays against her because she and bill pay 'ordinary income tax, unlike a lot of people who are truly well off – not to name names.'

'And we've done it through dint of hard work.'

The UNLV Foundation Board of Trustees is paying Clinton's $225,000 speaking fee to the Harry Walker Agency, which books her public appearances, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The event was confirmed on behalf of the Bill, Hillary, & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, but a UNLV spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday that the money will not go to the Clintons' family philanthropy.

The $200 per plate dinner will include some attendees paying as much as $20,000 for special sponsorships that include a private photo session with Hillary Clinton.



The UNLV Foundation, which will collect the money, took in $49million in its last fiscal year and ended up with $228million in assets, according to tax records.



Seems like only yesterday: Hillary Clinton's last high-profile visit to UNLV was in November 2007 at a CNN-hosted Democratic presidential primary debate against future President Barack Obama and a slate of other also-rans High roller? The University of Nevada, Las Vegas is just blocks away from Sin City's famous casino district (background), but it's doubtful Hillary Clinton will cash in her $225,000 check for poker chips

Tim Miller, executive director of the conservative America Rising political action committee, said last week that 'if Hillary is going to run for President she might be advised to take a lengthy sabbatical from her $200K per pop speaking tour and private shopping sprees at Bergdorfs to try and reconnect with what’s happening back here on Earth.'

The Clintons own stately homes in Washington, D.C. and upstate New York, along with a pricey apartment in New York City.

According to 24/7 Wall Street, they are the wealthiest living former first couple.

Democrats, especially those likely to be loyal to Vice President Joe Biden in the 2016 presidential race, are now joining with Republicans in bashing the former first lady for being financially tone deaf in a bad economy.

'I don't know whether it’s just that she’s been "Madam Secretary" for so long, but she’s generating an imperial image,' former South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian told The Washington Post on Sunday.