ASU’s Dr. Owen Anderson Warns of New Policies Threatening Academic Freedom
Written by: Tiffany Benson
In an interview with TPUSA’s Professor Watchlist, Arizona State University Professor Dr. Owen Anderson shared appalling experiences that college students should be aware of before taking university classes.
Dr. Anderson teaches in the School of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies at the West Campus. He’s also an Affiliate Faculty in the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict. After earning five degrees from ASU — including a PhD in Philosophy — Dr. Anderson joined the university’s staff in 2018 and never looked back.
When asked why he continued teaching at the liberal college for so many years, Dr. Anderson said:
“I enjoy teaching students. I’ve seen ASU from all sides. I’ve seen it as an undergraduate student, a graduate student, as a Teaching Assistant, as an Adjunct, and then getting hired full-time. So, I’ve seen it from all those angles. And having been there over 20 years, I’ve seen significant changes in the attitudes of professors.”
Dr. Anderson attributes these attitude changes to cultural shifts at ASU. He said when he started working at the college, “multiculturalism” was rooted in the idea that you “respect all different cultures.” However, in 2016, he said his colleagues began using faculty meetings to espouse more liberal expressions of multiculturalism.
By 2019, the definition evolved into ASU compelling professors to “decolonize” their course syllabi and submit them for approval. Until this point, Dr. Anderson was confident that his academic freedom was protected in the classroom. Although the university cannot force professors to comply, Dr. Anderson said peer social pressures imply that submitting lesson plans for review is required.
He further explained ASU’s definition of “decolonizing”:
“Decolonize means you become aware of any Western, and especially Christian, influences in your syllabus, and you replace those with what they would call ‘Indigenous people’s perspectives.’ Decolonizing comes out of a communist philosophy… and it’s self-consciously Marxism… It’s a political philosophy that’s being adopted by ASU to push on the students.”
Since Dr. Anderson’s courses cover world religions and philosophies, he believes his classrooms are already diverse and his syllabi do not require any changes. He stated that he has no issues with teaching from legitimate, culturally diverse perspectives, but he doesn’t agree with ASU’s evolving definitions.
MY ISSUE IS THAT DECOLONIZING IS NOT MULTICULTURALISM. DECOLONIZING IS SAYING THERE’S ONE SPECIFIC POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY THAT IS TRUE. AND YOU HAVE TO TEACH FROM THAT LENS.
Dr. Owen Anderson
Although Dr. Anderson works in a secular institution, he upholds Christian values and refuses to shy away from his faith. As an instructor of religious studies, he strives to present his students with a well-researched and balanced perspective of all belief systems.
Nevertheless, Dr. Anderson believes ASU’s version of multiculturalism has caused respect for Christians to deteriorate on campus. When asked why he thought the university needed to specifically decolonize Western or Christian ideas, Dr. Anderson stated matter-of-factly, “They are considered oppressors.”
On March 19, 2024, Dr. Anderson filed a complaint with the Arizona Board of Regents over ASU’s mandatory diversity, equity, and inclusion training for faculty and staff members. The Goldwater Institute case overview says:
“In October 2022, Anderson received an email from ASU that all employees were required to take the ASU Inclusive Communities training and they would have to repeat the training again every two years. Anderson understood that if he failed to take the training that it would be reported to his supervisor … [H]e would also be required to take an online quiz testing his knowledge of the training and failed answers would be reported to his supervisor. Anderson viewed, but did not complete the mandatory training nor the required quiz that followed.”
The overview continues by saying:
“The [training] slides included statements or concepts including, but not limited to: acknowledging the history of white supremacy and social conditions for it to exist as a structural phenomenon; how perceptions of authority and control are not granted to minoritized faculty; racism takes the form of innocuous questions or comments; and heterosexuality is privileged and goes unquestioned.”
As of publication, the plaintiffs are still awaiting ASU’s response. Dr. Anderson gave words of caution to parents of future college students, stating that, “You need to know what the environment you’re sending your child is like and whether it’s a hostile environment to Christians. So, if you’re aware of that, and you’ve had that conversation with your student, you should be good.”
To students, Dr. Anderson issued a forewarning:
“We tend to trust our teachers and we assume that they’re neutral. But in the university, they’re not. They have a political philosophy they’re pushing and trying to advocate for, and you should be aware of what that is going into college.”
EVERYONE HAS PRESUPPOSITIONS. THE ONES THAT ARE CURRENTLY BEING TAUGHT BY THE RADICAL LEFT ARE COMING OUT OF THE MARXIST INTELLECTUAL WORLDVIEW.
Dr. Owen Anderson
You can follow Dr. Owen Anderson on Substack, Twitter, and watch a recent Interview he participated in with PragerU.
