Project 1619 founder Nikole Hannah-Jones was paid $55,000 to speak at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in January.

Appearance contract obtained by Fox News Digital shows Hannah-Jones was paid $55,000 to attend college MLK Symposium on January 25, when she delivered the keynote address.

“Hannah-Jones will reflect on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., through the lens of his award-winning work investigating racial injustice and the consequences of slavery in American history,” the description reads. the event.

A draft program of the event shows Hannah-Jones was paid to meet with campus media and attend a “private VIP reception” before the MLK symposium, which lasted from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. sponsored events from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., including time spent delivering the 45-minute keynote address and a 30-minute moderated question and answer session.

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The contract, signed by The Lavin Agency and a university official, also stipulated a cash deposit of $27,500 for Hannah-Jones. The Lavin agency represents Hannah-Jones.

A University of Wisconsin-Madison spokesperson told Fox News Digital that funding for the event came from private sources and was not paid for using public funds.

No recording of Hannah-Jones’ speech was allowed, according to the contract.

Project 1619, founded by Hannah-Jones, was critical for supposedly saying inaccurate parts of the story, such as the claim that “one of the main reasons the colonists decided to declare independence from Britain was that they wanted to protect the institution of slavery”.

The essay was later corrected to read: “…one of the main reasons why some of the colonists decided to declare independence from Britain was that they wanted to protect the institution of slavery.”

Hannah-Jones used the 1619 Project as a platform to charge what one reviewer calls “exorbitant” speaking fees.

Kenny Xu, author of the book “Inconvenient Minority” and president of Color Us United, previously told Fox News Digital that universities could use the money used for these speaking fees in much better ways.

1619 PROJECT BOOK MAY STILL BE IN SCHOOL LIBRARIES, DESPITE CRITICAL STATES RACE THEORY BAN: EXPERT

FILE – In this May 21, 2016 file photo, Nikole Hannah-Jones attends the 75th Annual Peabody Awards at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. Weeks of tension over the hiring of investigative journalist Hannah-Jones at North Car University (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

“Maybe instead of paying exorbitant fees and lecturers that you extend, maybe you can use them to hire better teachers and to earn to pay the teachers and teach them that, you know, teach them math and science and real skills that allow them to actually, you know, be able to graduate from college with some confidence in their career prospects,” he said.

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The University of Wisconsin-Madison campus in 2014. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

Hannah-Jones responded to a Fox News Digital request for comment, saying Sen. Ted Cruz was giving a speech at UW-Madison in October. The conservative group Young America’s Foundation hosted Ted Cruz for an event at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in October. This event was not listed on the calendar of events on the university’s official website, as Hannah-Jones’ speech was. Cruz’s speech was originally scheduled to take place on campus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but was moved off campus due to the school’s indoor mask mandate.