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Hillary Clinton To Speak At IOP

First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton will visit the Institute of Politics (IOP) on Wednesday to speak about children and families, officials said yesterday.

Tickets will be lotteried on Monday and are available for full-time Harvard students and faculty only.

Avery W. Gardiner '97, chair of the IOP's Student Advisory Committee, met with Clinton in February and said she expects the speech to be very popular.

"She connects very well with the audience," Gardiner said. "She is a contrast to a traditional first lady and that should be of interest to undergrads. We also hope we can convince her daughter to come."

Chelsea Clinton visited Harvard with her mother this summer as a prospective student.

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Even campus Republicans, while critical of Hillary Clinton, said they were pleased that she will be coming to Harvard.

"I have respect for her position, but the ideas and things she's done we disagree with," said Jay Dickerson '98, president of the Harvard Republican Club and co-chair of Harvard Students for Dole-Kemp. "It's great for the IOP that they could get the first lady."

Clinton's campus visit will be a high-security event. The Kennedy School will close at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, and Harvard IDs are required for admittance.

Organizers said they were unsure if street blockades or SWAT team attendance would be necessary.

Heather Campion '97, director of the IOP forum, said that Clinton has wanted to speak at Harvard since 1993.

According to Campion, Clinton also expressed interest in meeting some new faculty members at the Kennedy School, including Weiner Professor of Public Policy William Julius Wilson, who has studied underprivileged children and their families.

With the presidential elections quickly approaching, the IOP has also issued invitations to Robert J. and Elizabeth H. Dole and Jack F. Kemp, Campion said.

"1996 has turned out to be a year where the candidates' wives have been increasingly taken into voters' concerns," said Andrei H. Cherny '97, a Crimson editor who is editor-in-chief of the Harvard Political Review. "Hillary Clinton's visit will give Harvard students a chance to see someone who has totally redefined the office of first lady in a way that every other first lady will have to live up to."

Sign-ups for the ticket lottery will take place on Monday from 9 to 5 at the Institute of Politics.

The lottery results will be posted Wednesday morning and tickets will be distributed Wednesday from 9 to 5

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