2008 Woodie Awards
UPDATE: Speaker Joe Brown costs $4,000 extra
Mathis ill, unable to travel for speech
By: David Veselenak
Issue date: 1/16/08 Section: News
Judge Joe Brown will replace Judge Greg Mathis as keynote speaker for Martin Luther King, Jr. week at a cost of an additional $4,000.
Brown will be paid about $14,000 to speak Monday, slightly higher than the price for Mathis.
With the circumstances, that amount is a great price tag for a speaker like Brown on such short notice, said Shawn Wilson, Minority Student Services assistant director.
"That's to be expected," Wilson said. "Brown usually costs around $25,000 to speak."
MSS is using some of its budget, along with other groups on campus such as Program Board, to bring Brown to campus, said Traci Guinn, MSS director.
Wilson said agreeing on price and accommodations took negotiating, but MSS did not have to spend any more cost than they would have with Mathis.
"It was hectic," Wilson said. "We were going back and forth on agreeing with prices and flight times."
Brown will speak at 7 p.m. Monday in Warriner Hall's Plachta Auditorium.
Mathis canceled because of "health-related reasons" that would not allow him to travel.
Wilson got a call from Mathis' representatives Tuesday night to alert him of the cancellation.
MSS made some phone calls to find another speaker. Wilson only had to contact one speaker and that was Brown, who also stars in his own daytime court television show. He said CMU had to go through several agencies to bring Brown to campus.
"There are about four layers that have to come into agreement with bringing Brown," Wilson said on the process. "It's been nothing but positive."
Within 24 hours after Mathis' cancellation, Wilson said he was able to book Brown on Wednesday to speak in Mathis' absence.
"We started brainstorming to who we could bring in," he said. "I'm more excited to hear what Judge Joe Brown has to say."
In addition to starring in his own television show, Brown became Memphis' first black prosecutor in the 1970s. Before that, he was the original judge in James Earl Ray's case, the man convicted of murdering King.
Brown will be paid about $14,000 to speak Monday, slightly higher than the price for Mathis.
With the circumstances, that amount is a great price tag for a speaker like Brown on such short notice, said Shawn Wilson, Minority Student Services assistant director.
"That's to be expected," Wilson said. "Brown usually costs around $25,000 to speak."
MSS is using some of its budget, along with other groups on campus such as Program Board, to bring Brown to campus, said Traci Guinn, MSS director.
Wilson said agreeing on price and accommodations took negotiating, but MSS did not have to spend any more cost than they would have with Mathis.
"It was hectic," Wilson said. "We were going back and forth on agreeing with prices and flight times."
Brown will speak at 7 p.m. Monday in Warriner Hall's Plachta Auditorium.
Mathis canceled because of "health-related reasons" that would not allow him to travel.
Wilson got a call from Mathis' representatives Tuesday night to alert him of the cancellation.
MSS made some phone calls to find another speaker. Wilson only had to contact one speaker and that was Brown, who also stars in his own daytime court television show. He said CMU had to go through several agencies to bring Brown to campus.
"There are about four layers that have to come into agreement with bringing Brown," Wilson said on the process. "It's been nothing but positive."
Within 24 hours after Mathis' cancellation, Wilson said he was able to book Brown on Wednesday to speak in Mathis' absence.
"We started brainstorming to who we could bring in," he said. "I'm more excited to hear what Judge Joe Brown has to say."
In addition to starring in his own television show, Brown became Memphis' first black prosecutor in the 1970s. Before that, he was the original judge in James Earl Ray's case, the man convicted of murdering King.
Be the first to comment on this story