Sarah Palin Welcome on Cal State Campus. Students -- Not So Much.

​With Sarah Palin due to speak at CSU-Stanislaus today, students at the Turlock campus tell SF Weekly that they're essentially being barred from their school.

"They've fenced in our campus. Students and faculty are not welcome on our own campus," said Ashli Briggs, a senior and vocal critic of Stanislaus bringing the former Republican vice presidential candidate to campus -- for $93,000 -- to celebrate the school's 50th anniversary. Yellow-shirted private security officers "have told students to keep moving. You're not allowed to loiter."


 

Stay out of the public university. A has-been politician is coming!

​Palin's appearance has, for months, been the subject of controversy.

After Sen. Leland Yee of San Francisco demanded to know how much Palin would be pocketing for the $500-a-head fund-raising speech, the school claimed that its university foundation -- the privately funded auxiliary of the school officially hosting Palin -- was not subject to the California Public Records Act, and therefore didn't have to turn over any papers. But the university claimed that to be a moot point, because the school's compliance officer, Gina Leguria, informed Yee's office that "The University has no documents that are responsive to your request."

Yet in April, Briggs and fellow CSU-Stanislaus student Alicia Lewis told journalists at a Sacramento press conference that they discovered the very documents the school claimed it did not have, partially shredded and disposed in a dumpster.

Anonymous sources eventually leaked Palin's asking price -- $75,000 plus some $18,000 in transportation and expenses -- which was largely confirmed by the university.

Briggs told SF Weekly she'd like to organize a group to protest on campus -- but isn't sure how to get past security and temporary fences to demonstrate there.

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