Had to choose between a reality TV guy and a professor for a campus talk

Our student group had $500 to bring in one speaker for free speech week. It came down to either a former cast member from some survival show who got famous for ranting about cancel culture, or a local poli-sci professor from Central State who wrote a book on campus speech codes. I figured the professor would actually talk about policy and law, so we booked her... and maybe 40 people showed up, mostly from her own class. The frat next door had a DJ that night and half the audience left when the bass dropped. Anyone else ever pick the "right" speaker and watch the room empty?

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1 Comment

reese861mo ago

Sympathy is about all you can offer in that situation, you did the right thing. Picking the substance pick over the flashy one doesn't always get the crowd, but it gets the right few people. At least the professor got paid and her students got a lesson that probably meant more than a party.