Bristol Palin, the oldest daughter of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, has been selected as the keynote speaker to talk about sexual responsibility at Washington University's "sex week" next month.
The St. Louis, Mo., university plans the week each year "to start an open sexual dialogue, encourage students to experiment with sexual viewpoints that differ from their own and to provide wide-reaching sexual education," according to StudLife, the student paper. Other guests have included famed TV doctor and "Loveline" host Dr. Drew.
Bristol Palin, now 20, was notably put in the spotlight during the 2008 presidential campaign for becoming pregnant at the age of 18. Since giving birth to Tripp, she has partnered with anti-teen pregnancy campaign the Candies Foundation, and even filmed a few ads for the group.
While the politically-charged nature of the selection has caused some minor turbulence on campus, one of the organizers behind the event explained to StudLife that her presence would help round out an annual happening that is often criticized for being one-sided.
"We thought a big name like Bristol's would help to start a dialogue," Student Health Advisory Committee President Scott Elman told StudLife. "We also wanted to target abstinence because SHAC and Sex Week have been criticized for being too liberal and too one-dimensional, and that the abstinence conversation hasn't been brought up."
The university reportedly doled out $20,000 to host the 4-person panel, though the school's treasury hasn't released the exact price of Palin's speaking contract.