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Ex-U.N. leader paid hefty sum for 1-hour CU talk By Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News
June 28, 2007 BOULDER - University of Colorado students paid $160,000 in April to hear former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan say the people of the world must work together to bring about peace. The amount came as a surprise Wednesday to several members of CU's board of regents, who saw the figure on a routine list of speakers and their fees for the school year that just ended.
Annan was far ahead of the second-highest-paid speaker, liberal historian and activist Howard Zinn, who received $15,500. The amount for Annan's one-hour speech brought calls from some regents for more frequent audits of student government, which has a $33.8 million annual budget and oversees most campus speaking engagements. It hasn't faced a full review in four years, though the student health center is monitored, campus auditor Jean Stewart told the board. "It's a large budget, and you have young, inexperienced people (in student government)," Regent Tom Lucero said following the Wednesday meeting. Lucero had raised the question of Annan's fee. Lucero said he wants to know whether rules are on the books that require students to seek permission before committing to large expenditures. Annan was brought to campus by the Distinguished Speakers Board and Cultural Events Board. Both are student panels, with seven to nine students on each board. Of the $160,000, Annan received $100,000. The rest was for transportation, lodging, food and security, according to Jon Tsuda, director of the Student Organizations Finance Office. Annan told some 4,000 people at the Coors Events Center that all of humankind is linked in the quest for world security. "We should be responsible to protect each other from the crimes against humanity," he said, according to a report in Boulder's Daily Camera. Ron Stump, vice chancellor for student affairs, said administrators were "shocked" by the amount of Annan's fee. But, he said, that's the going rate for people of Annan's prominence. "We're not the only people paying top dollar," Stump said. Tsuda said former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani received a similar amount two years ago, as did bluesman B.B. King last year. The students try to negotiate speakers' fees, but with little success, Tsuda said. Student admission to Annan's speech was $1. Regent Steve Ludwig noted that the $160,000 fee works out to $40 apiece for the people who attended. Regent Tillie Bishop said she was initially surprised by the $160,000 figure. But after considering Ludwig's math, Bishop said people often pay $40 or more to see sports figures. "You pay that price if you want to see them," Bishop said. Speakers like Annan help make CU a world-class institution, said Regent Cindy Carlisle. "The students are always very excited about these things happening," she said. Pricey speeches Former President Clinton made roughly $31 million for 192 speeches from 2001-05 - about $161,000 per speech. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani commanded $100,000 to $200,000 per speech from January 2006 to February 2007, earning $11.4 million.Source: The Washington Post
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