The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) shelled out nearly $45,000 for an evening with Boston College professor and “anti-racist scholar” Ibram X. Kendi, according to public records obtained by The Federalist.
UWM hosted an event titled “An Event with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi” on Sept. 21 for approximately three hours. Kendi was paid $40,000 for his appearance, which averaged to be approximately $207 per minute, according to The Federalist’s report.
Kendi was paid $30,000 for a 60-minute event conversation, $5,000 for a 45-minute meet-and-greet with UWM student leaders, $5,000 for a 60-minute professional development session with select UWM faculty and staff, and an additional $3,500 for airfare and meals for two people, according to public records requests.
A spokeswoman for UWM told the Federalist that the event was funded by “segregated student fees” and the university’s miscellaneous/auxiliary income, which come from concession stand sales, and not taxpayer dollars.
A flyer for the event dubbed Kendi as “one of America’s foremost historians and antiracist scholars.” The 60-minute event conversation was hosted by UWM’s Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion officer Dr. Chia Youyee Vang, according to the flyer. (RELATED: University Of Michigan Shells Out More Than A Years Tuition On Two CRT-Inspired Trainings)
Per the agreement between Kendi and UWM, which was brokered by the publishing company Penguin Random House, the university was asked to remove all videos of Kendi’s speech and send the recorded footage to the Penguin Random House Speakers bureau by Oct. 5.
Audiovisual Recording Adden… by The Federalist
The agreement also estimated that the event would have 500 attendees, though the university printed approximately 630 tickets. Almost 400 of the tickets were free to students, 90 were printed for general admission and sold at a rate of $12, and the remaining tickets were reserved for the “campus community” for $10 apiece.
The event was sponsored by the school’s board of regents, division of student affairs, student involvement center, division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and an organization named Leaders Igniting Transformation or LIT.
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee told the Daily Caller that students determined who would speak at the Distinguished Lecture Series, and “they chose Dr. Kendi.”