Northern Arizona University (NAU) will provide free tuition regardless of income to Native Americans from Arizona tribes but requires other races to fall below a certain financial threshold to qualify. NAU President José Luis Cruz Rivera described the arrangement as a cornerstone for the university’s equity work.
“Ensuring access to an affordable, high-quality education is a key part of NAU’s vision to deliver equitable postsecondary value,” stated Cruz Rivera.
Celebrating NAU's Access2Excellence expansion with a round dance with members of NAU's Native community 🪶 pic.twitter.com/GIg2hw5DlV
This arrangement falls under NAU’s financial aid program “Access2Excellence” (A2E) which launched last April. However, the university didn’t offer this free tuition for Arizona tribal members until last November, after NAU’s Native American Advisory Board pushed for its creation.
Initially, A2E was intended to provide tuition-free college for all students, regardless of race, if their household incomes were at or below $65,000. When A2E launched last spring, approximately 50 percent of Arizona households met that threshold.
✨ Introducing the @NAU Access2Excellence initiative 📚NAU will provide a tuition-free college education for EVERY AZ resident with a household income of $65,000 or below – assuring tuition will be fully covered by scholarships and financial aid. ➡️ https://t.co/O4qAcFxMeupic.twitter.com/xbRhOpF7Ja
NAU stated in a press release that the special free tuition offer for Native American students was part of its “strategic priority” to be the leading university serving Indigenous people nationwide. Ann Marie Chischilly, vice president of the Office for Native American Initiatives, said that this offering represented NAU’s commitment to prioritizing Native Americans.
“We are dedicated to being the nation’s leading institution serving the indigenous peoples and providing a clear and affordable pathway to an exceptional education,” said Chischilly.
"We pride ourselves on our service to Native American students & the communities they represent. Extending #A2E eligibility for our Arizona tribal members is an important step as we plant seeds for the success of future generations of Native American students." –@NAUPresidentpic.twitter.com/T1bLhtvuz1
Free tuition is one of the latest in NAU’s latest initiatives focused on uplifting Native Americans. In January, NAU pledged $10 million to prioritize Native American and Indigenous people in curriculum and recruitment efforts.
Through the work of Seven Generations Signature Initiative, NAU will contribute to the advancement of Indigenous knowledges and scholarship, strengthen partnerships & propel Indigenous student success. pic.twitter.com/P5P8NoNv14
Last March, NAU launched multiple initiatives totaling $1.3 million to increase the number of both Native American and Hispanic science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduates. These initiatives focus on training STEM faculty in anti-racism, revising graduate admissions processes to increase inclusivity and diversity, creating additional supports exclusively for Indigenous and Hispanic students, offering exclusive campus opportunities for Indigenous and Hispanic students’ families.
Department of Biological Sciences professor Catherine Propper predicted that these initiatives would increase anti-racist educational practices in education beyond NAU.
“In this way, we can bring about equity-oriented change in STEM fields by building leadership among faculty to contribute to institutional change, eliminate structural barriers and reduce disproportionality and systemic inequities in STEM fields,” said Propper.
Cruz Rivera asserted that greater funding and research efforts for recruitment, training, and placement on Native American and Hispanic students was an equitable necessity to spur these groups’ economic mobility.
“Together, we can propel more low-income, first-generation students and students of color to the middle-class and beyond,” said Cruz Rivera. “Support for HSIs will pave the way for less inequality, more social mobility and broader economic prosperity in America.”
In June 2021, the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) awarded NAU with $1 million to advance culturally responsive Native American pre-K-12 educators.
The A2E program goes into effect this fall. Those admitted to NAU for fall 2023 or spring 2024 semesters qualify.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The Phoenix Open crowd reportedly booed Gov. Katie Hobbs after her attendance was announced at the tournament on Wednesday.
Eyewitness accounts say the incident occurred at the Skybox stadium located on Hole 16 on Wednesday, a day before the opening day of the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Hobbs was brought onto the green to greet the crowds in the stadium. A video posted later that day allegedly captured the incident.
Twitter users who claimed they were at the open claimed that Hobbs looked “dejected” after walking off the course.
Katie Hobbs got introduced at the Waste Management Open on the 16th hole and the entire place booed her off the hole. #notmygovernor#nochanceshewon@KariLake
Lake asked social media users to send in their videos of the booing, with promises that they would give them credit and “help them go viral.”
Whoever gets us that footage of @katiehobbs being booed at the #PhoenixOpen, has the @KariLakeWarRoom guarantee that we'll credit them & help them go viral.
Let's show the world exactly how legitimate Arizonans think Hobbs is.
Apparent dissatisfaction with Hobbs’ first days in office may be considered bipartisan.
The governor stood opposed to the favored pick to take over the Arizona Democratic Party (ADP) chairmanship. Hobbs endorsed Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo; he also served on her transition team. However, top Democratic leaders and officials sponsored Yolanda Bejarano, ADP’s former vice chair. Bejarano won the election last month.
Hobbs didn’t congratulate Bejarano individually following the election; rather, the governor opted to congratulate the entirety of the new ADP board.
Prior to her swearing in, Hobbs stirred up controversy when she neglected to disclose the cost and funders behind her inauguration ceremony. It wasn’t until several days after her inauguration that the nonprofit accepting donations on her behalf for the event released the names of the donors and their amounts donated.
According to Hobbs, her “Katie Hobbs Inaugural Fund” accepted $1.9 million from about 235 donors. Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) records disputed Hobbs’ initial claim that she raised about $1.5 million from 120 donors.
The inauguration costed $207,000 — about 11 percent of total donations. This inspired questions of the purpose for the remainder of the funds as government transparency watchdogs called for investigation of whether Hobbs’ inauguration team purposefully accepted more donations than they knew were necessary.
Attorney Tim La Sota told “The Conservative Circus” that Hobbs’ use of a state website to solicit inaugural funds presented a potential legal issue.
“That’s definitely a no-no,” said La Sota. “That’s no different, hardly, than just putting a link on the governor’s official state website to her campaign account and saying, ‘Hey, you know, do you want to support me politically? Go to my campaign.’”
The inaugural fund was established as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit by Hobbs’ campaign manager, Nicole DeMont. That classification enables the funds to be used for any promotion of “social welfare,” per IRS rules. Under this classification, the remaining $1.7 million could potentially be applied to certain political efforts that advance “social welfare,” like lobbying.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Out of the nearly 14,000 abortions performed in 2021, at least nine babies were born alive following a botched procedure.
The data comes from the Arizona Department of Health’s (AZDHS) latest report on abortions in the state for 2021. 2020 had the exact same number of babies born alive following a botched abortion.
AZDHS issued its latest report the day after the Arizona Appeals Court ruled that the state’s near-total, pre-statehood abortion ban couldn’t be used to prosecute abortionists. The court upheld the law codified last March, which allows abortions up to 15 weeks.
State reporting on botched abortions resulting in live deliveries went into effect in August 2017. That year, the state reported at least 10 abortions that resulted in the baby delivered alive between August and December 2017. In 2018, there were 12. Then in 2019, there were 15.
The number of abortions have fluctuated slightly over the years, marking a general upward trend since 2010, when there were more abortions performed that year than in any other year since 2004: over 11,400 abortions.
2010 was the year the state began tracking abortions, due to a newly passed law at the time. The all-time high for abortions on record in one year occurred in 2011, though this year came closer to meeting that record.
In 2011, there were over 14,400 abortions; 2012, over 13,300; 2013, over 13,400; 2014, about 12,900; 2015, over 12,600; 2016, 13,300; 2017, over 12,500; 2018, over 12,400; 2019, over 13,000; and in 2020, over 13,200.
99 percent of the 2021 abortions were administered to Arizonans.
The greatest demographic of women receiving abortions were aged 20 to 24 years old (nearly 31 percent), followed by 25 to 29 years old (27 percent), 30 to 34 years old (18.6 percent), 35 to 39 years old (10 percent), 18 to 19 years old (seven percent), 40 to 44 years old (three percent), and 15 to 17 years old (nearly two percent).
There were 19 total abortions administered to girls under the age of 15. According to AZDHS data, that rate declined by over 63 percent since 2012, and by over 11 percent since 2020. Likewise, teen girls aged 15 to 19 declined in abortion rates by nearly 16 percent since 2012, but did increase by six percent since 2020.
There were 31 abortions administered to women at or over the age of 45.
In 2021, about 15 percent of those who obtained abortions were married. That percentage has remained stagnant over the years, reaching a brief high of 17 percent in 2012 but ultimately averaging at about 14 percent. Unmarried women have generally made up 79 to 87 percent of abortion patients.
The largest portion of missing data concerned the educational status of the women receiving abortions. About 38 percent of that data was missing.
The following were the top-five clinics that performed the most abortions in 2021, in order: Camelback Family Planning, nearly 4,000; Family Planning Associates Medical Group, over 3,500; Planned Parenthood Tempe Health Center, nearly 1,600; Planned Parenthood Glendale Health Center, nearly 1,200; and Desert Star Family Planning, over 870. The state listed 17 facilities that performed abortions.
In addition to requiring abortion providers to report on botched abortions that result in a live birth, the state requires abortionists to use “all available means and medical skills [to] promote, preserve, and maintain the life” of the baby.
Only three abortions were partially or fully paid for using state monies through the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS). There weren’t any abortions paid for using state monies in 2020.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
This week, Desert Mountain High School (DMHS) put on a play exploring the sexuality of kids. It’s the latest display of the school’s promotion of minors’ sexualization.
The play, “She Kills Monsters,” tells the story of a high school senior, Agnes, discovering a journal containing the sexuality-based confessions of her younger, 15-year-old sister, Tilly, who died in a car accident.
The play comes in two editions: the traditional script for adults, and a “young adventurers” script intended for minors. The DMHS newsletter and flyer advertising their rendition of the play didn’t disclose whether the school would use the traditional or “young adventurers” version. The minor-oriented script retains frequent descriptions of and innuendos to sexual behaviors along with frequent expletives. The play displays the younger sister fantasizing about lesbian relationships with various “sexy” fictional female characters from a role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons, including a demonic, leather-clad “dominatrix,” succubuses, and an elf.
The script describes Agnes as an overwhelmingly “average,” “drab” teenager who lacks creativity and understanding for her sister, while Tilly is depicted as an adventurous, bold, creative, and wise individual.
DMHS sold the play tickets for $10 to $12 each.
In a 2020 review of the play, New York Times described the minor-oriented script as a “hot school play” for youth to enjoy.
“This is a story in which girls wield swords, queer kids are cool, and nerds rule the earth,” stated the review.
DMHS is friendly to the exploration of children’s sexuality on campus, though they’re not as friendly to the parents who question what occurs during this exploration. In 2021, AZ Free News reported how DMHS delayed responding to parental inquiries about the Gender & Sexualities Alliance (GSA) chapter on campus.
Last year, a DMHS psychology teacher, Mackenzie Onofry, taught students unapproved material on the findings of debunked sexologist Alfred Kinsey. The material declared that only four percent of men and two percent of women were exclusively heterosexual, that sexuality is a continuum, that homosexuality spans human history and is a natural part of the animal world, that sexual orientation isn’t a choice and is immutable, that conversion therapy doesn’t work, that women have more erotic plasticity (sexual interests) than men, that homosexuality is a gene location on the X chromosome, that fetal testosterone exposure causes attraction to women, and that chances of male homosexuality increase by one-third with each son born.
Onofry remains employed by the district, according to her LinkedIn page.
DMHS’ district, Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) is aware and supportive of the high school’s initiatives for exploring minors’ sexuality and proclivity for keeping parents in the dark. Last month, it was discovered that SUSD falsely denied the existence of a transgender support plan for nearly a year.
Last year, SUSD’s social justice professionals promoted a drag queen storytime.
That summer, SUSD unintentionally provided a parent with blank transgender patient intake forms for a Phoenix hormone and gender transition facility in response to a records request regarding communications concerning DMHS librarian and GSA Club advisor Michelle Schulke.
Earlier that year it was discovered that Schulke was behind plans for sexuality and anti-racist programming for minors. Schulke also remains employed by the district.
SUSD Superintendent Scott Menzel has defended the normalization of sexualized campuses since joining the district in 2020. In response to parents upset by kindergarten and elementary school staff members discussing gender ideology to their children without consent, Menzel issued accusations of Civil Rights violations.
“To target an individual publicly for their personal identity — in this case the individual against whom this complaint was filed does not identify as either male or female — is overt discrimination and inconsistent with state and federal law as well as school district policy,” said Menzel.
Menzel also admonished parents and community members opposed to the district’s GSA clubs, calling them “bullies.”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
An activist who goes by the nickname “Pro-Life Spiderman” was arrested after climbing Phoenix’s tallest building.
The activist, Maison Des Champs, scales buildings to raise money and awareness for pro-life causes. Des Champs climbed the former Chase tower on Tuesday to raise awareness for Let Them Live, a charity that incentivizes women to cancel their abortions by providing financial support, as well as to fundraise for a pregnant mother named Hope, who reportedly has an abortion scheduled Friday, Feb. 10. Hope is 22 weeks along.
Des Champs has been a featured guest on a number of networks and media groups since he began this strain of activism last year.
Des Champs appeared on The Daily Wire host Michael Knowles’ show last month. He claimed that Knowles was the inspiration for his activism — specifically, the conservative pundit’s coverage of the “Justice for the Five” movement that arose after pro-life activists discovered the remains of five unborn children killed by potentially unlawful late-term abortion procedures last March.
Des Champs shared that he undertook these climbs because they attracted the media attention required to bring awareness of pro-life efforts and needs. He claimed that his first climb occurred the day after the Roe v. Wade decision was leaked last May, calling it a “divine timing.”
“I’m sitting at home and I’m thinking to myself, ‘If politics are downstream of culture, and I want to change the culture, then the best way to change culture is to somehow become part of it,” said Des Champs.
However, Des Champs stated on his website that he began scaling buildings in August 2021 to protest Nevada’s COVID-19 mandates.
Des Champs also posted about that climb on his Instagram. He said he was inspired to climb due to his passion for mental health, and the impact of pandemic lockdowns and mandates. Des Champs revealed that he’d struggled with suicidal ideation for about six years leading up to the pandemic, but used rock climbing as an outlet.
Des Champs encouraged others to join him in a protest he organized later that month at the Planet Hollywood Casino in Los Vegas, Nevada, attended by conservative radio pundit Joey Gilbert.
Then, for nine months, Des Champs didn’t post climbing or protest content on Instagram. He broke the dry spell in May after posting his climb of a California skyscraper, coming out as a pro-life climber that time around.
Des Champs has had a number of other media rounds and appeared on Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s show, “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” in November.
Des Champs also earned the ire and mockery of leftist networks, like Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show.”
On his website, Des Champs calls for the arrest of the abortionist behind the five late-term babies’ deaths, Cesare Santangelo.
Des Champs has amassed tens of thousands of social media followers: over 18,500 on Instagram. His Twitter, which hasn’t been updated since last June, has just over 400 followers.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
