Required credentials for speaking at a college campus range from a doctoral degree to an overpaid, over-tan celebrity.
According to TJ Willis, the assistant director of Campus Activities, the choice of speaker at N.C. State is ultimately the decision of the students. “If the student body wants a speaker to come,” Willis said, “then that is up to the students.” Willis said there are a veriety of ways to book a speaker. “Sometimes hear about it from students who want a speaker to come, whether it’s by a committee or someone’s friend,” Willis said. “Other times, we will get contacted by agents calling or emailing us who are looking to bring something from a magazine or something promotional to campus.” A committee of students would meet to choose a speaker and go about the process of bringing the speaker to campus. “They select a speaker and go over it in the budget to see if this is who they really want to have,” Willis said, “and there is a conversation about bringing the speaker to campus.” Willis said the UAB is just one of many organizations that bring speakers to campus. “We brought Dan Choi here in the fall,” Willis said, “so I don’t know if you can compare that to a Scholar’s Forum speaker or a CEO brought in by the College of Management.” UAB presented a sneak preview of Your Highness and had lead actor Danny McBride and Director David Gordon Green visit campus. Rick Gardner, associate director of Campus Activities, said the student representative who advocates for sneak previews and who promotes Universal Studios originally approached them, which led to the event. “I’d like to think that we deserved it,” Gardner said. “The studio decided to route through N.C. State. They approached us and gave us the opportunity.” Gardner said that if the student body wants to bring someone to campus, UAB finds out who represents that individual. “The students decide who they want to bring,” Gardner said, “and then they research that person.” Gardner said the committee looks at things such as attendance, how that person is received and what sort of programs they have done. “But they also look to see if there have been any problems,” Gardner said, “such as controversy or technical things that we try to make sure we minimize. It is driven by the students. If they want someone to come speak, we find everything we can and give an offer for them to come to campus.” Jami Benson, a freshman in human biology and Spanish, is a member of the University Scholars Program and has seen many speakers come and go. “A good speaker has to be able to engage the audience and call attention,” Benson said. “I’ve been to a bunch of lectures to listen to many professors speak and so far they have all been amazing.” Brad Murphy, a freshman in engineering, is a member of the University Scholars Program as well. ”I think the people that have come to speak at State so far have been very knowledgeable in their areas of experience,” Murphy said. “Speakers who come to campus are people who are out in the world taking on issues that everyday people see in the news — they are actually involved in it. I like speakers who would come and expand my knowledge, because that’s why I’m at college.” Laurel Rowe, a freshman in chemistry, said future speakers that come to the University should be pop culture icons. “Just because of the age group here—we’re primarily teens and young adults, so there would probably be better attendance to go see a pop culture celebrity come speak,” Rowe said.
Earlier this month, Rutgers University paid Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi’s $32,000 to visit — $2,000 more than the commencement speaker, Nobel-prize winning author Toni Morrison.
Snooki told students to “study hard, but party harder.” Rutgers was not the first university to bring Snooki to campus. On March 3, James Madison University had the reality star visit. Carrie Martin, the coordinator of University Program Board at James Madison University, said they spent around $10,000 dollars to bring Snooki to campus. “We asked around our organization,” Martin said, “and we discussed it with the executive board. We needed a revenue event that could sell out, and that one did.” Martin said the mixed feelings about Snooki’s visit were extreme on both ends. “Either way,” Martin said, “it got people talking. Some people actually applied to be on the executive board based on Snooki because they wanted their feedback to be heard.” Celebrity status, Martin said, is a very big factor in booking a speaker. “She is a huge pop culture phenomenon, and students want to see what she has to say,” Martin said. The power of the students does affect the individuals that lecture, so their predilections will be one of the ultimate factors in whether a celebrity or a scholar will speak.
