UW-Madison students and staff expressed disappointment this weekend after film director Spike Lee cancelled his engagement to speak this month.
Lee was scheduled to talk Feb. 26 as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series’ spring lineup.
Lee’s agent, Sean Lawton, cited a new documentary and teaching obligations at NYU as reasons for the cancellation. He said Lee plans to speak next year and is looking forward to coming to Madison in the future.
DLS committee director Tim Lindl said students had picked Lee as their second most coveted speaker, behind Jane Goodall.
Lindl said Lee was chosen to speak both because of his popularity and affordability. Lee’s agent said he always clears his schedule in February to speak on issues regarding Black History Month.
“He would have been an excellent speaker,” Lindl said. “I think everyone’s disappointed. I’m disappointed, but it happens sometimes, especially if you go after high-profile speakers.”
Lindl said the committee had rented the Field House instead of the Great Hall in Memorial Union in anticipation of the speaker’s popularity.
“I was really excited to hear Spike Lee speak,” said Cary Garrett, a UW film student. “It’s pretty shady that he cancelled so late in the game.”
Lee is acclaimed as one of the country’s most influential filmmakers. The Wisconsin Union said he has “risen from his Brooklyn roots to make a name for himself in the United States and abroad.”
His most recent movies include “Summer of Sam,” “He Got Game” and “Get On the Bus,” which have followed some of his most critically acclaimed films, “Malcolm X” and “Do the Right Thing.”
Lindl said the committee is meeting this week to choose a new speaker, but that it is possible there will be none. In that case, he said, the money — over $60,000 — may be spent on a speaker for next semester.
Future DLS speakers this semester include satirical arts activists The Guerilla Girls Broadband, Inc., who will speak March 12 and Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Elie Wiesel, who will be in Madison April 16.
