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Syracuse University spent $12,000 to have current junior Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock speak at its 35th annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration in 2020, federal documents show. 

A financial disclosure, which Warnock made on Monday in accordance with the Ethics in Government Act, illustrates how much SU can pay to bring big-name speakers to campus. 

At the time of the event, which was prior to his candidacy for Senate, Warnock was serving as senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King had served as co-pastor. Warnock entered the Senate race only a few days later, on Jan. 30, 2020. 

During his keynote address, Warnock spoke about the importance of anti-racism and student activism on college campuses. He also laid the blame for political polarization on leaders who sought to exploit division for their own gain. 

Warnock’s visit to SU followed a series of more than 20 hate crimes and bias-related incidents that took place on and around campus during the fall 2019 semester and the #NotAgainSU occupation of the Barnes Center at The Arch that formed in response. 

“I think we ought to encourage that activism and expression, as long as it’s done nonviolently,” Warnock told The Daily Orange at the time. “More often than not, it has pushed us in the right direction.”

Of the three speaking engagements Warnock disclosed for the 2020 calendar year, his appearance at SU paid the highest. Events at Mt. Ennon Baptist Church in Maryland and Florida-based private equity firm Grain Capital paid him $4,000 and $5,000, respectively.

The university regularly invites high-profile figures to address students for special events, like commencement ceremonies, as well as its annual lecture series. Other big names to visit SU in recent years — either in-person or virtually, due to COVID-19 restraints — include investigative journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, comedian Trevor Noah and author Margaret Atwood. 

A $39,000 plan by SU’s College Republicans to bring conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro to campus in October 2020 fell apart due to the pandemic. Another $23,000 attempt to bring former White House press secretary Sean Spicer to campus in March of that year dissolved for similar reasons. 

Published on August 18, 2021 at 4:37 pm

Contact Chris: cjhippen@syr.edu