Turning Point USA

Barrett Honors College faculty have petitioned Arizona State University to “disassociate” from an event featuring the founder and CEO of Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk, and PragerU co-founder Dennis Prager.

The event, which highlights “Health, Wealth and Happiness” is set to take place on February 8, at ASU’s Gammage Auditorium and will feature conservative speakers Charlie Kirk and Dennis Prager, as well as personal financial coach, Robert Kiyosaki. 

Faculty at the honors college claimed to have been made aware of the event not through the established channels of communication, but rather through a social media post advertising the event.

“My initial response was shock. I do not think that the decision to host these speakers at ASU’s premier venue is in congruence with Barrett’s principles as an institution.”

Irina Levin faculty affiliate at Barrett Honors College

Outraged that conservative individuals might speak at a school-sponsored event, Barrett faculty created a petition, requesting the university condemn the event. Reports found that as of February 2, a majority (37 out of 47) faculty members from the honors college have signed the petition and have criticized the university’s decision to allow these speakers on campus.

“I want to make it clear that each signature on this petition was for a different reason . . . I believe these speakers represent ideas that go against the principles of the ASU charter that stands for inclusivity and not exclusivity.”

Michael Ostling, religious studies scholar at Barrett

The tweet above, which has recently been made private, received a number of public responses, which point out that college is meant to provide students with various ideologies, rather than simply one, unison, progressive mindset. This however, is a foreign concept to today’s professors.

“Universities are supposed to encourage free thinking and free speech, not indoctrination!”

“You seem to forget that college is designed for students to hear a DIVERSITY OF OPINIONS, by people we like or dislike.”

“What are you afraid of? That the students might learn they are being lied to, indoctrinated?”

Twitter users responded to an ASU faculty member’s tweet condemning event featuring conservative commentators.

Turning Point USA has a long history of fighting progressivism in institutions, and is leading the charge in bringing freedom of speech back to college campuses. With initiatives such as the Professor Watchlist, which allows students to find or submit stories about a professor at their university, and the Dean’s List, a college search engine using academic grading scales to rank universities, (unsurprisingly, ASU scored a C-) Turing Point USA is giving young conservatives the power to defeat their liberal college and gain a true education.

Students at ASU are able to see Kirk, Prager, Kiyosaki, and others at the “Health, Wealth and Happiness” event for FREE on February 8th, 2023 at the ASU Gammage Auditorium. Ticket are also available for purchase through Ticket Master.

All proceeds from ticket sales are used to allow students to attend the event free of charge.