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Rutgers University paid Snooki gig not an April Fool's Joke after all

By April MacIntyre Apr 4, 2011, 19:58 GMT

03/30/2011 - Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi - © robert mulrenin / PR Photos

Falling upwards seems to be the modus operandi for the diminutive occasionally publicly drunk star Snooki of "Jersey Shore" fame.

Rutgers University laid out $32,000 to book Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi to appear on its campus this week.  That is reportedly $2,000 more than Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison.  The New York Post reported the outrage expressed by Rutgers parents who got wind of the fee, extracted by funds from the tuition checks they write.

"We have more than 200 events on our campus during the course of the year, everything from scholarly presentations to entertainment," Rutgers spokesman Steve Manas said in a statement. "The students canvassed for who they wanted here and had the funds available."

Snooki drew around 1000 according to reports, and she rolled off life lessons like "study hard" and "party harder" to the audience.

The Rutgers University Programming Association is a student-run committee, paid Snooki's guarantee with mandatory student activity fees undergraduates must pay with their tuition.