EXCLUSIVE: College shells out $25,000 to host 1619 Project author for speaking engagement

The University of Oregon shelled out $25,000 to host Nikole Hannah-Jones for a virtual speaker event.

Nikole Hannah-Jones — a New York Times journalist who founded the 1619 Project — participated in a program called “1619 and the Legacy that Built a Nation” to the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication which took place on February 19.

Campus Reform obtained a copy of Hannah-Jones’ contract with the University of Oregon for the event through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The contract was between the University of Oregon and the Lavin Agency, which represents Hannah-Jones.

University of Oregon Nikole Hannah-Jones Contract by Campus Reform on Scribd

Hannah-Jones discussed “journalists’ responsibility and role in democracy, as well as the need to remain vigilant in the fight against racial inequality at a time when the United States is deeply divided” with faculty and students.

[RELATED: Poll shows support for teaching history of racism, prof claims it shows support for 1619 Project]

Several entities at the university — including the Office of the President, Office of the Provost, the Division of Equity and Inclusion, the Student Services and Enrollment Management, and the Lyllye Reynolds-Parker Black Cultural Center — co-sponsored the event.

The signup page said that the event “will not be recorded or available for on-demand viewing.”

Oregon Federation of College Republicans Chairman Ben Ehrlich told Campus Reform that “it would not surprise me in the slightest if the university is actively attempting to hide its embrace of radicalism.”

Though he does not claim to know the university’s specific motivations, he explained to Campus Reform that “I would think it’d be a bad look for them in regards to alumni donors, but yet at the same time they obviously have the motivation to push leftist historical revisionism and extremism.”

As Campus Reform has previously reported, Nikole Hannah-Jones spoke to Harvard University about her inspiration for the 1619 Project.

[RELATED: 1619 Project writer Nikole Hannah-Jones says American flag outside childhood home ‘embarrassed’ her]

During the event, Hannah-Jones discussed her father’s embrace of the American flag — a behavior that, according to her Pulitzer Prize-winning essay, “embarrassed” her as a child.

”I was deeply embarrassed by this outward show of patriotism from my father,” Hannah-Jones said. “I understood that Black Americans were still second-class citizens. This was a man who was born on a cotton plantation in apartheid Mississippi, one of the smartest men that I knew but who had never had any real opportunities in this country. And yet, here he was exhibiting patriotism. He was a veteran.”

Campus Reform reached out to the University of Oregon and Hannah-Jones for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @BenZeisloft