Hillary Clinton Visits USC

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is at the Ronald Tutor Campus Center this afternoon for a round table discussion about homeland security with Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Garcetti, while introducing Clinton, referred to her as the best presidential candidate. "We have the ears of the future president here," he said.

She thanked him for the invitation to USC, and kicked off their conversation on counter-terrorism by urging Americans to stay strong in the face of terrorism. "We cannot give in to panic and fear," she said. "It plays into the hands of terrorists. The conversation turned to the "often-offensive" rhetoric heard throughout this election. "It's become harder and harder for moderate reasonable voices to be heard," she said, talking about the Information Age. Clinton said it is important that we don't just hear hot rhetoric. "We have to amplify the voices of those who aren't heard." Salam Parker, the president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, addressed the importance of uniting against terrorism, saying, "We need to be on the same team [in fighting extremism]." Clinton wrapped up the talk on an optimistic note, saying that in her campaign they like to say "love trumps hate." Before leaving, she posed with supporters, including USG President Rini Sampath. A USC PR official said he didn't find out about the event until 8:45 this morning. When asked why the media wasn't told, he said "we're not a political university," and "it's not something we're going [to] invite [people] to." The Clinton campaign did not respond to questions about who organized the event or who was invited. A reporter at the event said it appeared that many USG members were on a approved list to attend, while other students were on standby. Lines to get in stretched around the building. Not everyone, however, was excited that the presidential candidate was on campus.

See all the tweets and posts from today at @ANNMediaLive, @AnnenbergMedia and snapchat @AnnenbergMedia.

Annenberg Media