Three brave Arizona State University Professors have spoken out publicly against colleagues’ attempts to boycott or cancel the upcoming “Health, Wealth, and Happiness” panel discussion at ASU’s Gammage Auditorium in response to The Gateway Pundit’s reporting on this event.
The professors also proposed a “public debate about the necessity of a variety of viewpoints and values in the university” to the more than 37 Communist educators who signed a petition condemning the event.
The Gateway Pundit reported that members of the radical left faculty at Arizona State University’s Barrett Honors College organized a petition against an event featuring Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki, best-selling author and PragerU founder Dennis Prager, and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
Read the full letter and names of signatories from an early copy of the petition by ASU Barrett faculty here.
In the letter, addressed to Dean Tara Williams of the ASU Barrett Honors College, scheduled speakers are slandered as “white nationalist provocateurs,” and their viewpoints are labeled “bigoted and anti-democratic,” “anti-intellectual,” and “The Big Lie.”
This letter was further shared with students of ASU by far-left Professor April Miller and likely other professors spearheading the protest against conservative speakers. In the email to students, Miller falsely accuses the scheduled speakers of “spreading: hateful rhetoric that is harmful to many marginalized communities; anti-public education platforms; and health/medical disinformation.”
Remember, this is the same university where students protested the Nation of Israel, calling for a violent invasion on campus.
A group of students also held a near-violent protest against Kyle Rittenhouse’s admission to the school while holding “Death to America” signs and attempting to break into the office building of President Micheal Crow. ASU Police needed to hold building doors closed as faculty hid in their private offices for protection.
Where were the leftist professors condemning “hateful rhetoric” and actual calls for violence?
ASU professors Jonathan Barth, Donald Critchlow, and Owen Anderson published an article Friday on Daily Wire, challenging woke Barrett faculty to “debate about the necessity of a variety of viewpoints and values in the university.”
“If liberty means anything at all,” said George Orwell, “it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”
We are proud to research, teach, and serve at a university that champions free speech and open inquiry on campus, and we encourage ASU faculty of all views to publicly affirm their commitment to these cherished principles.
Lastly, a common strategy of anti-intellectuals is to label their opponents as having a phobia rather than dealing with the truth or falsity of their beliefs. Public debate allows both sides to be exposed to the light of reason. Those who oppose having heterodox speakers at ASU should be willing to defend their position in public debate. Professor Owen Anderson, philosophy, is putting out an open challenge for public debate about the necessity of a variety of viewpoints and values in the university.
Other faculty at ASU likely did not sign onto this challenge for fear of retaliation or cancelation by their colleagues and superiors.
Responding to this challenge, the ASU Community of Care Coalition sent a bizarre tweet in all caps, attacking the three professors over their race.
Owen Anderson slammed the leftist activist page for their “anti-intellectual tactics” of insulting those they disagree with and repeated his challenge to the woke professors.
Tickets for the Wednesday event are available online!
Students will receive free admission at the box office upon presenting their high school, college, trade school, or community college student ID.
The Gateway Pundit will provide updates on this fight for free speech on campus.