WINONA, Minn. – The speaking fee for science advocate Bill Nye at Winona State was $72,000, the university confirmed. The honorarium was a record for the university’s long-running Lyceum speaker series. The fee was cobbled together from the university’s WSU Foundation fund-raising arm, from student activities fees, and from tickets that ranged from $10 to $20.
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11th legal-hour legal compliance
Minnesota law requires tax-supported institutions to share financial data with the public. Winona State, however, has a record of dallying on compliance with the public disclosure law. The university received media requests for the amount of Nye’s compensation starting October 4. Not until a month later, at 4:26 p.m. the afternoon of the Nye speech did the university reveal the amount. Andrea Northam, the university’s media relations chief, said that Lori Mikl, the university attorney, had not received the “finalized contract” earlier from student activities director George Micalone, who organized the event and began selling tickets in early October.