Bill Nye will not be coming to Eastern.

Because of scheduling conflicts, Nye’s planned appearance on campus this semester has been canceled.

The University Board Lectures committee was in the middle of putting together the contract for Nye when his agent called and said Nye would no longer be available on the scheduled date. Nye will be filming a show, instead

“It’s a disappointment, but it’s understandable in that business with somebody of his celebrity status,” said Ceci Brinker, director of student life.

Amy Baumgart, a graduate assistant in the student life office, received the call from the agent about a week and a half ago.

“It was really heartbreaking,” Baumgart said.

She said the first thing she did was run down to scheduling in a panic to see if there was a different date Nye could come.

Baumgart made a list of five to six alternative dates and hoped to change the date of his appearance.

“All the alternative dates we could find, really, to put him anywhere on campus. (But) it became apparent that we weren’t going to be able to pull this show off this semester,” she said.

Ryan Kerch, UB lectures coordinator, said in the time since the board found out, members have been trying to figure out whether there were other dates Nye could visit – or alternative speakers to spend the money on.

“It’s really no one’s fault,” Kerch said. “These things happen, unfortunately.”

Kerch said they have been in talks with the Apportionment Board about what will happen to the money that was allocated from AB for Bill Nye.

“It’s not promising towards bringing say another big-named speaker at a similar price,” Kerch said. “Both for the reasons that we specifically wanted Bill Nye, and they wouldn’t want to necessarily spend the money just on another choice. Bill Nye was the one we put all the research on.”

UB received an additional $22,870 from AB to bring Nye to campus. After UB contributed the $6,888 remaining in their lecture funding, the total cost to bring Nye to campus would have been $29,758.

Leah Pietraszewski, AB chairwoman, said because the money given to UB was specifically allocated for Bill Nye, the money would be placed back into the Student Fee Account.

“Due to the fact that it is now time for budgets, and the time to bring any additional allocations to the Apportionment Board has passed, there really aren’t any options,” Pietraszewski said. “UB Lectures did have some money left in their budget before the request, so they still have that money to work with if they so choose.”

Baumgart said she and Kerch are trying to figure out what they can do with the amount of money they still have left in their budget without the allocation.

Kerch and Baumgart are looking at several options, and Brinker said they are in the process of getting student feedback.

“I think we still might be in a little bit of a shock,” Baumgart said. “It’s hard to accept that this is happening. After all, we’ve been talking about it for so long, like it would be happening.”

Kerch and Baumgart have been working on bringing Nye to campus since the beginning of November.

Brinker said because student interest was so high among students, they are considering looking at dates next fall to bring Nye to campus, pending on whether or not funding would be available for next fall.

“I believe that there is a really good chance of Bill Nye getting another allocation,” Pietraszewski said.

She said the response AB gave the UB lectures committee should be a good indication of what to expect in the future.

AB denied UB’s original proposal and asked them to come back and ask for more money to let Eastern students receive free admission.

“I would be extremely shocked if the allocation did not go through,” Pietraszewski said.

Kerch said he and Baumgart are doing their best see if Nye can come to Eastern in the future.

“We were really excited about the student interest, and we just want to ensure the students who are excited about it: We haven’t forgotten about it.”

Emily Zulz can be reached at 581-7942 or at eazulz@eiu.edu.