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Clinton speaks at DePaul By Michelle Martin President Clinton used DePaul University in Chicago, the largest Catholic university in the United States, as a backdrop to his announcement that the Direct Student Loan Program will reduce interest rates for students who make their payments on time. In his appearance at DePaul, the president also announced that the Department of Education would propose forgiving up to $5,000 in student loans for teachers who spend at least five years in high-need schools, and urged Congress to pass a college tuition tax credit. “We have got to keep working until there’s not a single, solitary soul in America who stays out of higher education, or drops out, because they can’t afford it.” Clinton said. Jobs that require a college education pay nearly twice as much as those who don’t, Clinton said. The remarks drew loud cheers from an audience of about 450 students, faculty and staff members and parents who crowded into the university’s Stuart Center. Meanwhile, three pro-life protesters outside asked why a Catholic institution would allow Clinton, who has vetoed the partial-birth abortion ban, to speak. “He shouldn’t be allowed to set foot on campus,” said Carroll Bourillion. “It’s a disgrace. The president’s one-day trip to the Chicago area also included an appearance at Willow Creek Community Church, an evangelical non-denominational church in South Barrington, where Clinton discussed the “terrible mistake” he made in his affair with Monica Lewsinky, although he never named her. The tax cut Clinton touted at DePaul would allow families that spend up $10,000 a year on college tuition to save $2,800 on their tax bills. The tax cut is not included in Republican budget proposals for next year. Clinton’s remarks won positive reviews from John Schoultz, DePaul’s financial aid director. Schoultz said DePaul has a history of providing access to higher education to the children of working class people. This year, about 25 percent of its freshman class come from households with incomes below $40,000, he said. “People worry a great deal about paying for education, and they have incredible fears,” Schoultz said, adding that increases in federal student aid over the last 10 years have helped many people attend college. “It’s still a struggle.” Clinton shared the stage with Shoultz and with Pam McNeil, a mother of three; Alicia Buie, who took a $35,000 pay cut when she left a career in the insurance industry to become a teacher at Morton Career Academy; and Heather Ely, a 22-year-old junior at DePaul who already has about $25,000 in student loans. “I already planned on teaching in a high-need school, so I didn’t need the incentive to do this,” said Buie, who is finishing her master’s degree in education at DePaul. All the same, having $5,000 of her student loan forgiven would be appreciated, she said. “We have two small children to raise, and my husband is a Chicago police officer.”
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