The University of Oregon paid $25,000 to Nikole Hannah-Jones, the lead writer for “The 1619 Project,” for a virtual speaking event, a Tuesday report reveals.
The “fee for the virtual-engagement,” held in February, was set at $25,000, according to the contract between the university and Hannah-Jones obtained by Campus Reform.
EXCLUSIVE: College shells out a whopping $25K to host 1619 Project author for speaking engagement https://t.co/R5sxHsCrb3
— Campus Reform (@campusreform) April 9, 2021
Hannah-Jones took part in a panel discussion with the school’s faculty and students on the topics of journalists’ role in democracy and “the need to remain vigilant in the fight against racial inequality at a time when the United States is deeply divided,” according to the Zoom event’s description.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist also touched upon her childhood “embarrassment” caused by her father’s embrace of the American Flag, Campus Reform reported. (RELATED: NYT Union Condemns Colleague, Newspaper After Op-Ed Criticizes ‘1619 Project’)
“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.”
A group of scholars has previously appealed to the Pulitzer Prize Board, demanding the body strip Hannah-Jones of the 2020 prize for claims in her essay that had “simply no evidence.”