The top 5 speaking fees of 2021
Below are 5 instances when individuals in higher education were paid up to $50,000 for talking in 2021.
Professors and activists often get paid large sums to speak at universities for only a few hours at a time.
Below are 5 instances when individuals in higher education were paid up to $50,000 for talking in 2021.
5. EXCLUSIVE: That seminar about right-handed privilege cost $4,000
The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill hosted Christina Parle for a $4,000 lecture on intersectionality. In one of her graphics, she illustrated so-called right-handed “privilege.”
Parle also suggested the layout of grocery stores is a system of oppression, as people who are not the “average height” cannot reach the top shelf.
4. EXCLUSIVE: ASU student government paid communist $15,000 for virtual speech
The Arizona State University student government paid self-described communist Angela Davis $15,000 for a virtual speech, which lasted an hour and fifteen minutes.
Davis is a former member of the Communist Party USA and a founding member of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism.
3. Speaker’s Critical Race Theory speech cost UMich over $250 per minute
The University of Michigan paid $20,000 for CRT speaker Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum. “When we even think about the pushback against Critical Race Theory, it’s really a social ‘shh, don’t talk about it.’ Right?” she was quoted.
Also coming in at $20,000 is the University of Arkansas’ funding of a communist speaker. Angela Davis gave a 90-minute speech, wherein she answered student questions for 20-30 minutes. The event was funded directly by student tuition through the student activities fee.
2. EXCLUSIVE: College shells out $25,000 to host 1619 Project author for speaking engagement
The University of Oregon paid Nikole Hannah-Jones $25,000 for a single virtual speaking event.
Campus Reform obtained the contract between Jones’ agency and the university through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The virtual event was not recorded for on-demand viewing.
1. Oregon Dept of Education raided student absentee program funding to pay Nikole Hannah-Jones $50,000
The Oregon Department of Education doled out the largest speaker fee of $50,000 to 1619 Project founder Nikole Hannah-Jones. The funds were taken from a program meant to address absenteeism among disadvantaged students.
The fee covered the cost of two separate events, “1619: Centering Black History and Black Futures in Oregon” and “A Discussion with Nikole Hannah-Jones on Centering Black Students and Families,” totaling three-and-a-half hours.
