Arizona State University Archives

Arizona Department of Education Sends $15.3 Million to Help Low-Income Students

June 8, 2022June 7, 2022 The Center Square

The Arizona Department of Education announced it would award $15.3 million in funding for programs to improve the education quality it offers low-income and first-generation Americans.

“Parents deserve easy access to resources that help their children achieve their full potential,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman said in a press release. “I know students and parents need more direct support when it comes to educational services outside of the classroom. These organizations are well prepared to support students and families and will help foster higher student achievement.”

COVID Restrictions Stunted Kids’ Immune Systems, Could Explain Surge of Other Illnesses: Scientists

June 4, 2022June 3, 2022 Admin

For two years and counting, the scientific and medical establishments have urged Americans at all risk levels to limit their exposure to the microbial world to effectively reduce the spread of COVID-19, rather than focus on protecting the vulnerable.

The unexpected surge of other pathogens starting last summer, however, has challenged the wisdom of frequent sanitizing, social distancing, remote work and education, and routine mask-wearing, especially applied to children.

Arizona’s Public Universities Demanding Tuition Increases Despite Slowly Recovering Economy

March 27, 2022March 26, 2022 Rachel Alexander

The three public universities in Arizona — Arizona State University, University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University — are demanding tuition increases. They are proposing increases of 2% to 5.6%. A committee of the Board of Regents will vote on the hikes on April 7.

The universities cite inflation as the reason for the increase, with NAU President José Luis Cruz Rivera asserting the increase “accounts for less than half of current inflationary costs.”

Signatures Continue to Climb on Petition to Reverse Arizona State University Policy Mandating Vaccination Boosters for Student-Athletes at Away Games

January 26, 2022January 25, 2022 Rachel Alexander

Arizona State University instituted a COVID-19 vaccine booster mandate on Jan. 11 for student-athletes participating in away games. Outraged student-athletes launched a petition to demand that ASU reverse the mandate, which has over 1,700 signatures so far.

The petition, which was started anonymously probably due to fear of retaliation, states in part, “In a collective and respectful agreement amongst the athletes of various sports teams at Arizona State, we are voicing our stance to fight for the right to dictate what we decide goes into our bodies regarding the COVID-19 vaccination booster shot. … We want to express that there should NOT be a forced decision to be made by us athletes that causes us to sacrifice the season and competition we come to Arizona State for.”

Arizona State Rep. Jake Hoffman Denounces Arizona State University’s ‘Slap on the Wrist’ for Students Who Kicked White Students Out of Multicultural Center

January 1, 2022December 31, 2021 Rachel Alexander

Two minority students at Arizona State University posted a video on Instagram on Dec. 22 announcing that ASU has disciplined them for forcing two white students on September 23 to leave the university’s multicultural center, an event captured on video that went viral. ASU first charged undergraduate student Mastaani Qureshi and graduate student Sarra Tekola with two Code of Conduct violations in November, stalking and interfering with university activities. A third student, Mimi Arayya, was also charged with the violations, but ASU later dropped them.

According to Qureshi and Tekola in their video response announcing ASU’s discipline, the university first gave them a warning, then required them “to write a 3-page paper on how next time we talk to white people about race in society, we will be civil.” Qureshi said she will not comply with writing the statement and does not regret her actions.

TikTok Removes Video by Libertarian Organization Defending Kyle Rittenhouse

December 12, 2021December 11, 2021 Admin

Libertarian organization Young Americans for Liberty says it recently posted a video in support of Kyle Rittenhouse that was subsequently censored by TikTok

In early December, the group posted a video in response to reports that members of the Arizona State University student body were protesting Rittenhouse’s online attendance at their university. The protestors called the acquitted teenager a “murderer,” and claimed he posed a threat to the student body.

Rittenhouse Responds to ASU Protestors: ‘I’m Going to ASU… in Person’

December 10, 2021December 9, 2021 Admin

After demands from Arizona State University students that Kyle Rittenhouse – the now-18-year-old who was acquitted of all charges brought against him when he defended himself against rioters in Kenosha, Wisconsin – be banned from going to ASU, Rittenhouse himself issued a simple response: “I’m going.”

In an interview with conservative commentator Steven Crowder, Rittenhouse touched on the “very, very small” ASU student protest against him, calling him a “white supremacist killer,” declaring that, despite the students opposition to him, he still plans to complete his undergraduate degree there.

Arizona State University Defends ‘Death 2 America’ Sign at Anti-Rittenhouse Rally

December 3, 2021December 2, 2021 Peter D'Abrosca

Arizona State University (ASU) Thursday defended a photo circulating the internet that depicts a woman on its campus holding a sign that says “Death 2 America” during Wednesday’s anti-Kyle Rittenhouse protests.

”University campuses are synonymous with free speech, an environment for the vigorous discussion and debate of ideas,” an ASU spokesperson told The Arizona Sun Times. “Differences of opinion, from all sides, should be explored in a peaceful exchange.”

Arizona State University Says Kyle Rittenhouse May Apply for Admission There, Despite Protests by Some Students

December 1, 2021November 30, 2021 Rachel Alexander

Arizona State University (ASU) officials say Kyle Rittenhouse may enroll for classes, notwithstanding radical student groups like the ASU Students For Socialism’s vows to demonstrate on campus Wednesday to demand the school prevent him from attending. Rittenhouse, who was recently acquitted of homicide for defending himself, has taken online courses at ASU previously and said after the acquittal that he intends to resume them.

Several prominent ASU graduates denounced the protest, and one, State Sen. Kelly Townsend (R-Mesa), pushed ASU for a response.

Arizona State University Denies Rittenhouse Enrolled at School as Protests Gear Up

November 30, 2021November 29, 2021 Peter D'Abrosca

Students gathered in a common area at a table with masks on

A group at Arizona State University (ASU) will protest the online enrollment of Kyle Rittenhouse, according to social media posts and statements.

“Join us and rally against racist murderer Kyle Rittenhouse being permitted on our campus – Wednesday at 3:30 outside the Nelson Fine Arts Center on campus,” ASU’s chapter of Students for Socialism said on Twitter.

Students Behind Viral Arizona State University Video Face Code of Conduct Charges, Faculty Say That Is Racist

November 22, 2021November 21, 2021 Admin

Screen cap of student with a laptop that has a "Police Matter" sticker on it.

Faculty members are pushing back against Arizona State University for charging Code of Conduct violations against the female students who attempted to kick out two White men from the school’s Multicultural Community of Excellence Center earlier this year.

Campus Reform obtained a copy of the email asking faculty and staff to sign an “internal letter requesting that the University Administration revoke Code of Conduct violation charges against” the students behind the now viral video from September.

Leah Sarat, an associate professor of Religious Studies, sent the mass email, which was co-signed by 11 other individuals, on Nov. 2.

Arizona State University Professor Calls Traditional Grading Racist, Suggests ‘Labor-Based Grading’ Instead

November 16, 2021November 15, 2021 Admin

Arizona State University professor Asao Inoue recently ranted about “White language supremacy in writing classrooms,” during which he called for abolishing traditional grading in favor of “labor-based grading.”

The latter method scores assignments based on the amount of effort students put towards in the work, devaluing quality and accuracy in the grading.

During Nov. 5 lecture at the University of Tennessee titled “The Possibilities of Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies”, Inoue claimed that “White language supremacy in writing classrooms is due to the uneven and diverse linguistic legacies that everyone inherits, and the racialized white discourses that are used as standards, which give privilege to those students who embody those habits of white language already”.

Arizona Universities to Follow Federal Order for Workers to be Vaccinated

October 20, 2021October 19, 2021 The Center Square

Workers at the University of Arizona must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

That’s the news from university President Robert Robbins in response to President Joe Biden’s order that any public or private organization that benefits from federal tax dollars must install a vaccination mandate.

Activists Confront Kyrsten Sinema in Airport, on Plane over Biden Agenda

October 6, 2021October 5, 2021 Admin

Protesters and activists followed Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema through Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. and onto a plane Monday, pressing her on why she refuses to back parts of the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill.

“I’m just trying to get an explanation for the American people,” Kunoor Ojha, chief of staff of the Green New Deal Network, asked Sinema as she followed the senator through the airport, video of the encounter shows.

20 Arizona Republican Legislators Denounce ASU Video of White Students Kicked Out of Multicultural Center, Considers Defunding

October 5, 2021October 5, 2021 Rachel Alexander

Arizona State Rep. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) and 19 other legislators issued a statement following a video that went viral of three black students kicking two white students out of Arizona State University’s multicultural center. They demanded accountability and threatened to withhold funding from the university.

They announced, “It has come to light following the racially-motivated harassment of two students and their subsequent removal from one of the campus’ study facilities that ASU has allowed a culture of institutionalized racism and neo-segregation to take hold on its campus. The racially-charged removal of these students from the multicultural center begs the question of why Arizonans are being forced to spend tens, potentially hundreds, of millions of their hard-earned tax dollars on a building at a public university that some of our citizens are not allowed to use?”

Ryne Bolick, Son of Shawnna Bolick and Clint Bolick, Leads Arizona State University Students’ Effort to Allow Open Carry on Campus

September 23, 2021September 22, 2021 Rachel Alexander

Tyne Bolick, the son of Arizona Rep. Shawnna Bolick (R-Phoenix) and Arizona Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick, is following in his parents’ footsteps taking an interest in politics and the law. He started a chapter of Students for Liberty at Arizona State University last year, and soon afterward the club launched a petition drive to allow open carry at Arizona’s universities.

Bolick told The Arizona Sun Times that he saw a need for the change due to the alarming number of reports of rape, armed robbery, and other violent crimes on campus, which are emailed to students sometimes as often as once a week. It’s especially a problem on the downtown ASU campus due to the large homeless population.

Biden Tax Proposal Would Cost Arizona Thousands of Jobs: Report

September 21, 2021September 20, 2021 The Center Square

President Joe Biden’s proposal to increase the United States’ Global Intangible Low-Tax Income (GILTI) tax will lead to job losses at 266 public companies in Arizona, according to research from Arizona State University.

The proposal doubles the GILTI rate to 21% from 10.5%. Ninety-four percent of U.S manufacturers believe the increase will harm their business, according to a National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)survey on Sept. 9.

The study by the Seidman Institute at ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business and Ernst & Young’s Quantitative Economic and Statistics Team (QUEST) said the tax “is specifically targeted at the income earned by foreign affiliates of those companies from intangible assets including intellectual property such as patents, trademarks, and copyrights.”

Arizona Supreme Court to Hear Brnovich’s Lawsuit Against Arizona State University over Its Sweet Deal to Hotel Developers

September 17, 2021September 16, 2021 Rachel Alexander

The Arizona Supreme Court has agreed to accept an appeal from Arizona Attorney Mark Brnovich in his lawsuit against Arizona State University and the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) challenging a deal they made with hotel developers letting them use school property, which allows them to avoid property taxes.

Brnovich said shortly after filing the lawsuit, “ABOR shouldn’t be subsidizing out-of-state billionaires. Worst of all, ABOR is depriving K-12 schools and community colleges millions of dollars in property tax revenue that must be made up by other taxpayers by placing the hotel on property tax exempt land.”

Arizona Universities Mandate Masks, Setting Up Showdown with Governor’s Office

August 13, 2021August 12, 2021 Peter D'Abrosca

In direct defiance of legislation banning vaccine passports and mask mandates, three major Arizona universities will require masks for students, setting up a showdown between the schools and the state government.

“All three Arizona universities said Wednesday they are going to require face masks on campus in certain situations, regardless of new state legislation apparently designed to preclude them from doing that,” Tuscon.com reported. “And more than half the Republican state legislators are asking Gov. Doug Ducey to withhold funds from schools who they say are violating a different ban on mask mandates and take the errant districts to court.”

Arizona State University Hires ‘Critical Race Theory Scholar’ as Music Professor

July 23, 2021July 22, 2021 Corinne Murdock

Arizona State University (ASU) announced Wednesday that its latest hire is a Critical Race Theory scholar. ASU said that the new assistant professor of music learning and teaching, Dr. Joyce McCall, focuses her research on Critical Race Theory and other related disciplines.

“McCall is one of the few scholars whose music education research focuses on race and racism through critical race theory and double consciousness theory, as well as culturally relevant pedagogy,” reported ASU.

ASU Professor Says Parents Should Lose Veto Power Over Children’s Transgender Medical Decisions

July 13, 2021July 12, 2021 Corinne Murdock

An Arizona State University (ASU) professor asserts that parents shouldn’t have a say when it comes to their children’s transgender medical decisions. These sentiments appeared in an article by ASU assistant philosophy professor and bioethicist Maura Priest, published early last month by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Priest argues that only the child can decide what’s best for them when it comes to medical treatments for transitioning genders.

Arizona State University Debuts New Degree in Social Justice Activism

July 6, 2021July 5, 2021 Corinne Murdock

Arizona State University (ASU) debuted a new undergraduate degree geared toward social justice activism, called community development. The course description describes education on the basics of activism, citing concepts like diversity, inclusivity, sustainability, equity, and social and environmental justice. If students enjoy studying community development, they may also earn a graduate degree in it.

“The BA program in community development equips students with tools to collaborate with, empower and educate diverse community constituents by drawing on grassroots and inclusive frameworks such as sustainable development, social and environmental justice, participatory democracy, social and economic equity and social accounting,” reads the course description.

Arizona Governor Issues Executive Order Preventing COVID Vaccine Mandates on College Campuses

June 16, 2021June 15, 2021 Cooper Moran

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey announced on Tuesday an executive order that will prevent the state’s public colleges and universities from mandating the COVID-19 vaccine for its students.

The executive order comes in response to Arizona State University informing its students that they “expect” students to return to campus in the fall fully vaccinated. Further, individuals who choose not to receive the coronavirus vaccine would be subjected to a mask requirement and weekly testing.

Arizona State University Journalism School Removes People, News Items Decried as too Pro-Police

September 22, 2020September 21, 2020 Admin

In the last four months the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University has repeatedly removed pro-police related items after students and activists cried foul.

In June, the school rescinded a job offer to the new dean of its journalism school, Sonya Forte Duhé, after students accused her of past microaggressions and other insensitive comments. Mostly notably, Duhé had recently tweeted support for “good police officers who keep us safe.”