Collegiate Times

Maya Angelou speaking in Burruss.

To fully celebrate the diversity of Martin Luther King Day, university officials decided to not charge students or the public for Angelou's keynote speech.

Related: Video

Ray Plaza, director of diversity initiatives, said the planning for Angelou to come for MLK Day started back in June.

"We were very fortunate that she was available," Plaza said. "It is often very hard for someone to come on the actual MLK date. A lot of schools do their celebrations a week before or a week later, but we have always done ours on the actual date itself."

The university, through the office of multicultural affairs, pays for MLK week. Sixty percent of the budget for MLK week goes to the keynote speaker, and Angelou's speaking fee is approximately $43,000. A number of different university departments and outside groups were able to provide some funding, but Plaza says he hopes to expand that in the future.

"This is a celebration that is not going to go away," Plaza said. "In order for us bring these speakers, we have to be able to spend the money. With the outpouring of interest we have from Maya Angelou, we set the bar there. We also set the bar when we previously brought the Rev. Jesse Jackson. We have shown that we are going to bring these top-notch individuals to speak on our campus for this special day."

Other speakers for MLK week in the past include Jackson two years ago, and Yolanda King last year. Jackson show sold out, but Yolanda King did not.

"We think we did not sell out for Yolanda because a lot of students were traveling back to school after the winter break," Plaza said. "Last year, MLK day was directly after winter break and then school started. We go back to the old situation in the next four years, where we have the winter break, then the holiday, then the start of school. So, it's going to be very critical in the next four years that we highly publicize the speaker for MLK week in November."

Tickets for all MLK week performances are free, which was a deliberate decision on the part of the office of multicultural affairs.

"We did not want money to be the reason why someone did not have the opportunity to see our speaker, or any of our speakers," Plaza said. "Yes, it does take a budgetary hit, but it sends a message that diversity is not just about the color of one's skin or gender, but that it is also about the socioeconomic part. I do not want to deny someone the opportunity to experience our visitor because they do not have the money to pay for a ticket. I never want that to be a barrier."

Plaza said that before deciding to bring Angelou, speakers Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were serious considerations. However, because of complications with the primaries and other issues, neither speaker was able to make the date.

"I am really glad we got Maya Angelou," Plaza said. "Maya really epitomizes that sense of community and we were looking for someone that could really transcend and that everyone could relate to."