By Aaron Calvin, Entertainment Editor
Hofstra’s “Sweet Valentine” event series included both the University crest made into chocolate and a chocolate tasting event. It culminated in a presentation called “Let’s Talk About Love” with television and radio personality Wendy Williams. And unlike the previous events, this one had a bitter edge to it.
Williams walked out onstage promptly at her scheduled time to a packed audience in Monroe’s lecture hall. Her opening words were perhaps somewhat unexpected for a crowd expecting a talk about love.
“You won’t meet your husband at college,” she said matter-of-factly. This set the tone for the rest of her speech. She went on to explain her point of view with the opinion that the college experience is about having fun.
“The men you are with shouldn’t be seen as men that you will be with forever or even long term,” she said. At one point she remarked, “If you aren’t partyin’, you aren’t doin’ it right.”
She also made some vague distinctions on how to behave. While she said not to take college relationships too seriously, she also warned against behaving too promiscuously. The stress of her speech was generally on having fun, referring to college as a four-year “prison, but a fun prison.”
After her speech, she answered preapproved questions from the audience. Most of them concerned traditional student questions about how to approach members of the opposite sex and how to make relationships work. She responded to most of the questions flippantly, sometimes berating the question and its asker and called one question stupid.
Williams is no stranger to saying exactly what she means. Throughout her long career as a self-proclaimed “Queen of Media,” her often-blunt manner has brought her several enemies such as Tupac Shakur, Jay-Z and even Will Smith. She is also known for her frank discussion of recently deceased celebrity Whitney Houston’s drug problems.
Despite the tone that she took with the audience, none seemed to be offended. On the contrary, the crowd replied with energetic agreements and whoops of laughter. Hofstra students came to the event to get exactly what has made Wendy Williams so popular in the media: a lot of straightforward advice with a little abuse.
