Despite a large number of student protests and widespread distaste that MSU chose to invite author and columnist George Will to speak at commencement in December, his recent contract has now revealed Will was paid $47,500 for his appearance.
In addition, the university was responsible for Will’s room and board while he was in East Lansing.
Will wrote a controversial column in June 2014 for the Washington Post in which he said college rape statistics are extremely exaggerated and declared victimhood a “coveted privilege.”
The fee MSU paid was in line with the cost of previous commencement speakers secured from the same bureau, said MSU spokesperson Jason Cody.
Several graduating seniors turned their backs on Will as he spoke during commencement, and more students and faculty members protested outside Breslin Center.
MSU Students United was one of the largest groups on campus to speak out against the choice of speaker and encouraged students to do the same.
“It goes to show that the university does not listen to us,” said social relations and policy senior Emily Kollaritsch, who helped to organize the protests. “It is outrageous the amount they spent on him, under the guise that MSU is currently under two Title IX investigations and has a well-known rape problem on campus.”
Other MSU Students United members, including law student Emily Gillingham, believe the money could have gone to support survivors of sexual assault or hire new therapists for the Counseling Center Sexual Assault Program.
MSU currently has two counselors working in the program for sexual assault survivors.
“This large speaking fee at a time when MSU cannot find the money to properly fund programs to support survivors of campus sexual assault mirrors the experience that many survivors of sexual assault on MSU’s campus are having — they hear that the administration takes sexual assault seriously, but what they see in practice is the opposite,” said Gillingham.
Student governments, including ASMSU and COGS, publicly disagreed with the university’s decision to allow Will to speak and award him an honorary degree.
The only response to student outrage came in the form of a statement from President Lou Anna K. Simon. She stated, “Having George Will speak at commencement does not mean I or Michigan State University agree with or endorse the statements he made in his June 6 column or any particular column he has written,” and reassured dissenters that the university is working to improve the response to sexual assault on campus.
MSU’s recently formed Task Force on Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence will convene a meeting this semester to allow members of the campus community to share thoughts on this issue, as well as to offer different perspectives and approaches for addressing sexual assault and its impact on our community.
