Faculty members at Arizona State University (ASU) had a meltdown over a campus event featuring Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and PragerU founder Dennis Prager. The faculty wrote a letter to a college dean smearing the two conservatives as “white nationalist provocateurs” and “purveyors of hate.”
Faculty members of Barrett, The Honors College at ASU wrote a letter expressing their dismay over the university’s Lewis Center for Personal Development hosting an event featuring Dennis Prager, Charlie Kirk, and entrepreneur Robert Kiyosaki.
Dennis Prager (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Invision/AP)
(iStock/Getty Images)
In their letter to the dean, the Barrett faculty also expressed “a vote of no confidence in the leadership of the Lewis Center.”
Ironically, the faculty went on to insist that they “believe Barrett should be a place where our students encounter a broad diversity of voices and viewpoints.”
PragerU shared the letter to social media, adding that 37 of the 47 Barrett faculty members have signed the petition as of February 2.
Next week, @DennisPrager, @charliekirk11, and @theRealKiyosaki are speaking at @ASU…
In response, Barrett faculty organized a petition to disassociate the event from the honors college.
The petition has been signed by 37 out of 47 Barrett faculty members as of Feb. 2.
— PragerU (@prageru) February 3, 2023
In their tirade, the faculty also smeared Prager and Kirk as “purveyors of hate,” claiming the two conservative firebrands have “attacked women, people of color, the LGBTQ community,” as well as “democracy,” and “higher education.”
“Dennis Prager and Charlie Kirk are purveyors of hate who have publicly attacked women, people of color, the LGBTQ community, as well as the institutions of our democracy, including our public institutions of higher education,” they wrote.
“By platforming and legitimating their extreme anti-intellectual and anti-democratic views, Barrett will not be furthering the cause of democratic exchange at ASU, but undermining it in ways that could further marginalize the most vulnerable members of our community,” the letter continued.
The Barrett faculty went on to ask “What kind of impression does it girove[sic] our BIPOC students and potential students to see that during Black History Month Barrett is hosting two white nationalist provocateurs.”
Kirk responded to the attacks, telling Breitbart News, “It’s the same old playbook. If you don’t like your ideological opponents’ ideas, throw pejoratives at them and label them the worst things imaginable.”
“These labels are obviously false and defamatory, but it’s just such a common tactic that I grow tired of it to be honest,” the Turning Point USA founder added.
“If the faculty disagree they should come to the event, hear what we have to say and ask us questions and challenge our thinking. Instead, they want to ban us from talking and cancel the event,” Kirk said. “Unfortunately for them, we know their tactics and won’t be cowed by them. We invite all who are intrigued, interested, those who agree or disagree to come out for what we expect to be a great forum for free speech and the exchange of ideas.”
An ASU spokesperson responded to Breitbart News’ request for comment with the following statement:
As a public university, ASU is 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 Lewis Center speaker program and to the faculty that have expressed strong opinions about the event.
Breitbart News will continue to report on developments at ASU.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.