A lecture on bullying will be presented at 7 p.m. Oct. 16 at McAfee Gym.

Nev Schulman, best known for his work with the “Catfish” documentary and series on MTV, will be presenting his experiences with working and dealing with cyberbullying.

Melanie Kaderabek, vice chairwoman of the University Board, said Schulman will discuss his personal experiences with online dating and safety.

UB was encouraged to host Schulman’s talk following the success of Maci Bookout’s, popular for her appearance on MTV’s “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom,” lecture last year.

“The Teen Mom star brought out approximately 600 students, and at the time she was off air for almost three years,” Kaderabek said. “Because Nev’s show is still ongoing as well as his book releasing in September, we thought he would be the perfect speaker to bring to EIU’s campus.”

Schulman, in particular, was chosen to appear at Eastern because of the success of his show.

“After doing some research, we had found out that MTV’s Catfish was one of the most popular shows among young people in the United States, getting millions of views each airing, which was definitely a huge push to bring Nev,” Kaderabek said.

Kaderabek also said the turnout of students at Schulman’s event will directly affect whether or not UB will continue to bring more speakers to Eastern. UB requested an increase in their budget to make up for the cost of Schulman. They said they expected to make up the cost in ticket sales.

Tickets for the lecture are $5 for students and $8 for the general public. Special tickets that include meet-and-greet passes and special seating are $10. Tickets can be purchased at the University Union Box Office.

“UB brought Maci Bookout last year and the immense success of the event motivated us to take it up a notch and bring a speaker even more well known,” she said. “If this event is as successful as we are expecting it to be, then we may try and keep this trend of bringing more well known speakers to EIU to help educate and entertain the students annually.”

UB Movies will be showing the Catfish documentary at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday in preparation for Schulman’s lecture on Oct. 16.

Kaderabek said she encouraged all students to attend the lecture.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to hear a professional in the field of online safety speak and gain great tips from someone who has personal experiences first hand,” she said.  “Nev is highly entertaining and a very engaging speaker, so everyone will be entertained during his talk.”

Samantha Middendorf can be reached at 581-2812 or semiddendorf@eiu.edu