Speaker Series remains dependent on administration, other groups for funding
Regular funding for the Speaker Series remains up in the air, despite a forthcoming appearance from esteemed conservationist Jane Goodall.
The Speaker Series Committee has continued to look for speakers to bring to Central Michigan University and the funding to get them here, said Director of University Events Bob Ebner.
“The Academic Senate kept (the committee going and part of its charge was to find funds),” Ebner said. “It was never eliminated as a committee, just the funding was.”
Ebner said Goodall, who will speak at the CMU Events Center on March 28, will be the fourth major speaker arranged by the committee since it lost regular funding in 2003. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke in Plachta Auditorium in November 2009 and was paid $35,000. The series also brought in British-Indian novelist Salman Rushdie in October 2008 and Gen. Wesley Clark in April 2007.
"I think it's good to have high-profile speakers. It's good to have people like (Goodall) come to interact with students. I think it's a great opportunity, and not everyone gets an opportunity like it," said Lapeer sophomore Ellen Meinecke. "Maybe not once a year, but every five years or so we should have a speaker like that come to campus, so that while you're at Central, you can come across a good speaker like that — that way everybody gets a chance."
The committee pays to bring in speakers like Goodall through donations provided by the university president, provost, Program Board and various academic departments on campus. CMU, through one-time funds from the provost's office and college deans, is paying $60,000 to the Jane Goodall Institute for the conservationist's appearance. In 2009, the family of former University President Harold Abel donated $100,000 to create the Abel Endowment Lecture Series, focused on dictatorship, democracy and genocide, though it was not directly part of the Speaker Series.
"I think (having these speakers) is a good thing," said Fremont sophomore Sarah Smith. "However, I think $60,000 is a lot of money. I think it's great to have these speakers, but not at that cost."
Ebner said the committee’s main goal is to bring in speakers who will enhance CMU’s academic programs.
“We have a huge biology undergraduate program," he said. "(Goodall’s visit) will be good for that.”
The future of the series, however, remains dependent upon donations from the university and administration.
"I feel like not a lot of people really go to these things unless they have to. I don't personally go to them for my own pleasure or for fun, and I feel like the price is a little outrageous," said Atlanta sophomore Rachael Sherbonda. "I'm sure some people enjoy them, and it's worth it for them, but other than that, I don't know"
