Contracts holding up ULS schedule release
The University Lecture Series (ULS) has yet to announce the lineup of speakers for this semester.
In the past, the lineup has been announced in Sept. or Aug., but this year provided more speed bumps for the planning.
“Since each contract is different, they take time to execute and some take longer than others based on the agency or the speakers' needs, as well as what is expected by USF,” Marion Huntley, Coordinator for the Center for Student Involvement (CSI), said. “Sometimes the processes can take two weeks and sometimes they can take up to 3 months.”
Speakers over the past few years have included actress Rosario Dawson, scientist and TV host Bill Nye, soccer star Abby Wambach and Batman producer Michael Uslan along with others.
“Speaker selection is a careful process that is based on ideas and opinions of students as well as an evaluation of topics that are either timely or have not been recently addressed within the speakers that have been to USF,” Huntley said.
Each year, CSI puts out a survey of which people students would like to see in the lecture series. Some on this year’s survey included YouTube star Kid President, Orange is the New Black actor Matt McGorry, former American Idol judge Paula Abdul and businesswoman Randi Zuckerburg.
Also on the survey was deaf activist Nyle DiMarco who was the first ULS speaker for this semester during Week of Welcome. DiMarco’s speech was given completely in sign language while his interpreter translated.
Renee Hunt, Director of Communications and Marketing for Student Affairs, said the full lineup would be announced when the contracts are finalized which is expected to be soon.
While the lineup isn’t finalized for the rest of the semester, Huntley said the lectures will take place on Oct. 26, Nov. 9 and Nov. 15.
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