OU paid Greg Lukianoff, author and president and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, $18,000 for his keynote address during Free Speech Week, according to documents OU Daily obtained Monday through an open records request.
Lukianoff gave the keynote address Oct. 22, where he spoke on cancel culture and free speech at universities. After his 30-minute address, Lukianoff had a Q&A for 15 minutes where he addressed questions submitted before the event.
According to the contract, Lukianoff would receive a payment of $18,000 by Oct. 23, along with a first-class roundtrip, hotel, food and professional ground transportation.
The contract also stated that while media would be allowed to the event, recording sound bites would be limited, and the press would not have a Q&A with Lukianoff.
During his address, Lukianoff spoke of pressure some university professors may experience to conform from fear of being reported by students for offensive speech. He also discussed what he refers to as the “conformity gauntlet,” in which students who go on to become professors face various pressures that lead to them self-censor when they achieve a higher position in academia.
In 2021, FIRE criticized OU in an article for an “Anti-Racist Rhetoric & Pedagogies” workshop held by an OU professor. While the workshop was voluntary, FIRE wrote that the workshop was teaching participants to limit free speech among students. FIRE then posted a recording of the workshop to its YouTube channel.
Following the posting of the article and video in 2021, Julie Ward, OU American Association of University Professors vice president, criticized FIRE and said its actions left OU faculty members vulnerable to online hate.
In an interview with OU Daily before the Free Speech Week address, Michael Givel, president of the OU’s chapter of AAUP, said FIRE’s view of freedom of speech leans toward an absolutist point of view of the First Amendment.
“Having FIRE talk about cancel culture — which as I understand it, is the topic of this keynote speech — is, to put it mildly, irony in the bounds,” Givel said. “The idea that you can engage in a free-for-all, pretty much in terms of speech or basically copy somebody’s speech and put it online, or whatever, is the epitome of cancel culture. Somebody should look in the mirror.”
This story was edited by Anusha Fathepure and Peggy Dodd. Gretchen Schultz and Avery Avery copy edited this story.
Ana Barboza is news editor and profiles businesses, organizations and individual community members that are influential to OU and the Norman community. Her goal is to tell the stories of the hidden gems Norman and OU have to offer. Ana can be contacted at Acbarbozab@gmail.com.