Edwards event draws scrutiny

Ex-senator, wife to speak at college

John Edwards admitted to having an affair.

SALEM - It began as the latest coup for Salem State College: a former presidential contender and his popular wife would take part in a long-running lecture series that has in the past drawn four former presidents and countless other politicians to the campus 21 miles north of Boston.

But then this year's guest of honor, Senator John Edwards, admitted that he had an extramarital affair with a campaign aide while his wife, Elizabeth, was in remission from cancer in 2006. On the morning talk shows yesterday, analysts were debating questions about whether Edwards fathered a child with the aide and whether a supporter paid off the woman to keep her quiet.

For now, Salem State officials say they expect the Sept. 23 "conversation with John and Elizabeth Edwards" to go forward, but they are consulting with the corporate sponsors who helped pay the Edwardses' undisclosed speaking fee to ensure the couple will still make an appearance.

"We don't want to get into moral issues at this point," said college spokesman Jim Glynn. "We are bringing them here to talk about the election and to talk about Elizabeth's battle with cancer, and that, to us, was more than enough to captivate an audience." If the college reconsiders its invitation to the Edwardses, he said, it will announce it this week.

Even before news of Edwards's affair broke last Friday, Glynn said, the college was expecting a sellout of the tickets, which range in price from $10 to $75 for those who want to attend a book-signing after the lecture. Yesterday, Glynn said the college could switch the event from an 1,800-seat arena to the 3,600-seat hockey arena if "ticket sales go crazy." Tickets, on sale since July 15, are still available, he said.

After months of rumors, Edwards confirmed Friday that he had an affair with a former campaign aide, Rielle Hunter, in 2006. He told ABC's Bob Woodruff that he had confessed the affair to his wife, but admitted he did not tell her when he went to see Hunter at a California hotel last month. He denied that he is the father of Hunter's child - whose birth certificate does not identify a father - and said he had no knowledge of reported payments made by a supporter to relocate Hunter to California.

Students at Salem State yesterday afternoon agreed that Edwards should still be invited, but had different views on whether the affair should be part of the conversation.

"He's a public figure so he needs to give us more information about the case," said Salif Camara, 22, doing his philosophy homework at a picnic table. "Having an affair with another woman is pretty big."

Janine Legere, 22, a recent graduate, disagreed: "I don't think that his personal life should be anyone else's business . . . Hopefully no one brings it up, because his wife is going to be there and it's going to be uncomfortable for her."

Salem State is no stranger to politics and sex scandals. Former president Bill Clinton made his first post-presidential public appearance in Salem in March 2001, even making light of the Congressional impeachment proceedings against him over his involvement with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

"I knew about the Salem witch trials because I have identified with those witches a time or two," Clinton said.

Part of the success of the lecture series is based on the large fees that the privately funded Salem State College Foundation pays to speakers - Clinton received $100,000. Glynn said he did not know how much the Edwardses are scheduled to be paid, but John Edwards reported receiving $16,000 to $44,000 per appearance for speaking at colleges in 2006, according to his federal disclosure forms. Overall, the foundation paid $476,232 to mount the lecture series last year.

But Glynn stressed that the foundation relies on ticket sales and private donors led by Eastern Bank and North Shore Medical Center. He said no government money is involved.

Andrew M. Paven, senior vice president of O'Neill and Associates of Boston and a longtime communication consultant, said he could see no reason for Salem State to revoke its invitation to Edwards.

"I think the question goes more to the speaker than to the college," said Paven, a former Clinton administration official and spokesman for the Big Dig.

"The college booked Senator Edwards because he's high profile. It didn't book him based on his moral standing."

Scott Allen can be reached at allen@globe.com, Jonnelle Marte at jmarte@globe.com.