Don’t be fooled by the ho-hum name – the ISU Committee on Lectures has been bringing in prestigious speakers and comedians for 50 years running.

Just in the last year, guest speakers at Iowa State have included former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former UPI White House Bureau Chief Helen Thomas, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilsonand comedian Aasif Mandvi of “A Daily Show with Jon Stewart”- to say nothing of the surplus of political candidates who came through the area.

“We had every presidential candidate under the sun,” said Pat Miller, director of the Lectures Program.”The caucuses are still filling my head.”

The Committee on Lectures is a 30-member board, comprising both students and faculty or staff, that chooses and arranges for lecturers on campus. Student representation consists of 11 members of the Government of the Student Body, one member of the Student Union Board and one member of the Graduate and Professional Student Senate. Faculty and staff representatives are appointed by Iowa State’s seven colleges.

Ideas for speakers can come from any number of sources, but the most common is student organizations.

“Student groups come to the Lectures Program requesting different speakers,” said Sarah Sunderman, senior in liberal studies and co-chairwoman of the Committee on Lectures. “They’ll have a biography for us about the person, how much their speaking fee is and if they can receive funding from other departments.”

The annual budget for the committee is more than $100,000 and is provided by GSB. Even with that kind of money, budgeting speakers in during the semester can be tight.

“There are certain cases where speakers are just too expensive,” Sunderman said. “You can’t bring in as many people if you bring more of the expensive speakers.”

Fine-tuning that balance between prominent, expensive speakers and lesser-known, cheaper speakers is key for the committee. Oftentimes, the committee will try for people on the cusp of their popularity.

“We try to get them on the upward curve. Or the downward curve – we don’t care either way,” Miller said. “We have a lot of groups with a lot of interests, and we try to be all things to all people.”

A series that has Miller excited this semester is the tongue-in-cheek-titled “Can Laughter Save America?” Actress and author Amy Sedaris is set to speak as a part of this series.

“She’s crazy,” Miller said. “Everyone’s very excited from her Letterman things and ‘Strangers With Candy.'”

Miller said one of the most popular speakers from last semester turned out to be author and journalist Christopher Hitchens. Hitchens’ polemic speech, “How Religion Poisons Everything,” sparked widespread discussion among students and faculty, which Miller said is one mark of a good speaker.

“He’s probably one of the great examples of speakers for campuses because he’s . very entertaining and very delightful to work with, and the students loved him and he loved the students,” Miller said.

Sunderman’s fondest memories of her involvement with the Lectures Program is the opportunity to interact with speakers before and after their speeches. She said some of her favorites to work with were Albright and comedian Mo Rocca.

A casualty of bringing in so many speakers per semester can be attendance. While some speakers pack the room with overflow, others draw only a handful of listeners.

“I think we consistently get decent-sized crowds or even very good-sized crowds,” Sunderman said. “I understand being a student and being really busy . we have so many lecturers we can’t really expect record attendance on each one.”