Businesswoman and former Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina is set to speak at UF on Wednesday.
Accent Speakers Bureau is paying Fiorina $70,000 to speak, said Shelby Buchanan, the organization’s chairwoman.
Doors will open for Fiorina’s speech, titled "From Secretary to CEO: Lessons from a Lifetime of Effective Leadership", at 7 p.m. at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, located at 3201 Hull Road, with the show beginning at 8 p.m. Students can use their Gator 1 Card to pick up tickets from the Phillips Center. If tickets remain on Wednesday, they will become available to the general public.
Buchanan said it was due time for a businesswoman to come speak at UF.
“When looking into topics that had been neglected by Accent in the past, we realized that it had been several years since a businesswoman was invited to UF to speak as a part of an Accent season,” she said.
Buchanan said survey results on student interest also indicated students wanted to hear from a businesswoman.
Fiorina is known for her former position as CEO of Hewlett-Packard and her political career, including her run in the 2016 presidential election.
Naomi Hardin, an 18-year-old UF political science freshman, is looking forward to attending Fiorina’s speech and hopes to hear about the 2016 presidential election from a candidate's point of view.
Hardin said as someone who hopes to work in politics, getting the opportunity to hear from people with ranging political views is important.
“I think it's important to expose yourself to all different perspectives and views on the process in order to educate yourself about the reality of the current political field,” she said.
Although Hardin said she knows little about Fiorina other than her candidacy, Hardin still admires her.
“I have a lot of respect for any woman who has such great success in her given field,” Hardin said.
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