Staff Reports
In a shocking turn of events, Arizona State University (ASU) has learned what happens when academic diversity is sacrificed for "wokeness." One of ASU's biggest donors, who had been giving $400,000 a year, has chosen to stop giving money to the school after a conservative professor was fired for having the nerve to host an event with right-wing guests like Charlie Kirk and Dennis Prager.
ASU Megadonor Yanks $400K a Year Donation After Professor Fired for Holding Event With Conservative Speakers https://t.co/LWZXG2Tsng
— RedState (@RedState) July 18, 2023
Ann Atkinson, who was in charge of the T.W. Lewis Center for Personal Development at ASU's Barrett Honors College, was fired, which set off the debate. Atkinson says she was fired because she helped plan an event called "Health, Wealth, and Happiness," but ASU says it was because of money problems. But despite what ASU said, the event was a huge hit and drew a lot of people.
Look at that! Dennis Prager, Robert Kiyosaki, and I are having a great event at ASU even after 37 of 47 Barrett faculty wrote a nasty letter warning people to stay away. Glad the people didn’t listen! pic.twitter.com/zEfUCrj2v8
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) February 9, 2023
Good for Tom Lewis, this is what needs to happen to all of these off the rails universities. Haha ASU
— DC5 Tom (@dc5tom) July 15, 2023
Atkinson didn't hold back when she talked about how angry she was that ASU was attacking free speech. In an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, she talked about how teachers, students, and the administration were mean to her and tried to stop the event and get her fired. They didn't succeed in what they tried to do, but Atkinson still lost her job.
Tom Lewis, who paid for the T.W. Lewis Center, was upset by what ASU did and immediately cut off the center's yearly funding, which shut it down. His choice was based on how badly the university treated free speech. Lewis said, "After seeing how hostile and active the left was, I had no faith that Barrett would keep the terms of our gift." Lewis's 20 years of giving money to ASU will surely be missed.
No one has missed the fact that right speech is getting harder to hear on college. Rep. Austin Smith of Arizona has asked the Arizona Board of Regents to look into claims that ASU often shuts down free speech. Smith was worried about the Atkinson case and the fact that student Tim Tizon was arrested for giving out copies of the U.S. Constitution on campus. It is clear that ASU's bias against Republicans goes against the goal of a university, which is to show students different points of view.
State Republicans have noticed this worrisome behavior and are starting a group to look into the state of free speech in public universities, especially how ASU handled the Prager and Kirk program. There will be a meeting where Atkinson, Prager, professor Owen Anderson, and talk radio host Seth Leibsohn will all say what they think. It is very important that schools like Arizona State are held responsible and this kind of "woke" nonsense is taken out of our colleges and universities.
The silencing of conservative views is not only a violation of the right to free speech, but it also hurts students' ability to learn and grow. ASU's actions have cost them a lot of money, and they should serve as a warning to other organizations that putting beliefs ahead of different points of view is a surefire way to turn off donors and followers. It's time for colleges to think again about how committed they are to intellectual diversity and the basic ideals of free speech that make them work.
The firing of the conservative professor at ASU is part of the left's attack on free speech and intellectual diversity on college campuses. It's a shame that a college or university would try to shut down opinions that don't fit with their own left-wing goal. Universities should be safe places for open discussion and critical thinking, not echo chambers that make it hard for people with different ideas to be heard. The fact that ASU lost a big donor should show other schools that giving in to "woke" pressure comes at a high price.
