Community Corner

Kent State Paid $55,000 in May 4 Appearance Fees

Award-winning director, renowned journalist gave May 4, 2013 keynote speeches

Kent State University paid a total of $55,000 in appearance fees to its two celebrity speakers who helped dedicate the new May 4 Visitors Center last month.

Kent State paid $35,000 to award-winning director Oliver Stone and $20,000 to PBS news anchor Gwen Ifill.

The appearance fees are according to the contracts between the speakers and Kent State and were obtained by Kent Patch via a public records request.

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Both Ifill and Stone helped dedicate the new museum, which features a three-part gallery documenting the events of May 4, 1970, that left four dead and nine wounded after a volley of Ohio National Guard gunfire was unleashed on campus.

Ifill moderated a panel discussion titled “Historical Significance of May 4 and the Visitors Center” during the May 4 commemoration events last month.

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Stone gave the annual commemoration’s keynote speech in the Kent State Student Center Ballroom.

A video of Stone’s speech is attached to this article, as are the speakers’ contracts.


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