Republican lawmakers led the first legislative committee hearing on Tuesday to investigate the freedom of speech in Arizona’s public universities and to look into the events surrounding a program titled “Health, Wealth and Happiness,” presented by Arizona State University (ASU)‘s T.W. Lewis Center.
The formation of the committee follows officials at ASU allegedly firing university administrator and director of the T.W. Lewis Center, Ann Atkinson, for bringing conservative speakers Dennis Prager and Charlie Kirk onto campus earlier this year for the “Health, Wealth and Happiness” program which focused on professional development and networking.
The committee hearing featured testimony from Atkinson, Dr. Owen Anderson, a professor at ASU; Dr. Patrick Kenney, executive vice provost and dean of ASU; Dr. Joanne Vogel, vice president of Student Services at ASU; Kimberly Demarchi, vice president for Legal Affairs at ASU; Prager, a radio host; and Seth Leibsohn, a conservative talk show host.
Atkinson told lawmakers that during her time at the institution, she was the target of denunciation, censorship, and speech suppression.
“This situation embodies a free speech crisis woven into the maroon and gold fabric of the university,” Atkinson said.
The university maintained that its decision to close the T.W. Lewis Center in June and terminate Atkinson was not due to Atkinson’s speaker choice for the event but instead due to the center’s donor and founder, Tom Lewis, recently pulling his funding.
According to Kenney, there are almost always opportunities for protest at events like these but the institution fulfilled its duty by remaining impartial and giving everyone a chance to be heard.
“It can be noisy and uncomfortable, typical for a democracy, but the events will take place,” Kenney said.
The discussion also touched on a letter signed by almost 40 Arizona State University faculty members protesting Kirk’s appearance at the event. State Senator Anthony Kern (R-Glendale) argued that the faculty protesting the event discouraged students and other faculty who wanted to attend the event from going.
“You have faculty members literally standing outside with signs. Isn’t that intimidation?” Kern said.
According to Kern, he does not trust Arizona’s universities.
