North Pima News

Ann Atkinson, former Executive Director of the Lewis Center at Arizona State University, claimed that organizing a health and wellness event that featured conservative speakers directly led to her termination, she said on a recent episode of the Breaking Battlegrounds podcast.

"This was a program where we brought in experts in those areas, it was optional and open to the public, and it took place at Arizona's home of Broadway, at ASU—Gammage," Atkinson said June 25. "And in response to our organizing a program on health, wealth, and happiness, the faculty at the Honors College, not the students but the faculty, led a national condemnation campaign to chill, and suppress, and intimidate our right to bring these speakers onto campus. They attacked the speakers, our donors, myself, the Lewis Center. And it was really just an incredible response, given what we were trying to accomplish with this program."

Atkinson claimed the university opposed freedom of speech by ASU faculty, which sparked considerable backlash, she said on the podcast.

The event Atkinson and the Lewis Center organized took place at the Barrett Honors College in February. Afterward, a letter was sent by dozens of Barrett faculty members to the dean of the honors college expressing their disapproval, she said. According to a story by KPNX, the event featured speakers Charlie Kirk and Dennis Prager, both well known for their conservative views.

"And then finally, a big part of the story is that the Honors College participated and the attempts to suppress this free speech, even despite ASU, used very strong policies on free speech," Atkinson said during the episode. "So they took down our marketing. They tried to limit what the speakers were allowed to say. They wanted me to read a warning statement to the audience during my opening remarks, and that that is directly in congruence with the robust free speech policies that ASU should be providing to all of those in its community."

After Atkinson's firing, the university maintained it was unrelated to freedom of speech or the event, but rather a consequence of the Lewis Center's cancellation of funding for Atkinson's job, KPNX reported.

"Ms. Atkinson’s current job at the university will no longer exist after June 30 because the donor who created and funded the center decided to terminate his donation," the school wrote in a June 20 news release. "Unfortunate, but hardly unprecedented. ASU is working to determine how we can support the most impactful elements of the center without that external funding."

The university added that it was "committed to free, robust and uninhibited sharing of ideas among all members of the university’s community. The university values and adheres to the First Amendment to the U.S Constitution, which provides freedom of speech. These values apply to the students and other members of our community who helped to organize the speaker program -- and to the faculty who expressed strong opinions about the event."

Stone is a former chief of staff for Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio. Warren is Managing Director of September Group, LLC, which focuses on politics and other topics around the U.S. Breaking Battlegrounds dives deep into discussions and analysis, usually featuring guests every week, according to the podcast's website.