Study Finds Significantly More Democrat Professors At ASU Than Republicans

Study Finds Significantly More Democrat Professors At ASU Than Republicans

By Staff Reporter |

A review of Arizona State University (ASU) professors’ voter registration data found that there were 15 times more Democratic professors than Republican ones. 

According to an analysis of voters by The College Fix, nearly 300 professors out of over 500 total were registered as Democrats — or, 52 percent of the professors. 

Comparatively, just under 20 professors were registered as Republicans, just over a dozen were registered with a third party, about 140 were unaffiliated, and just under 100 were unidentified. 

The outlet identified voter registrations using Maricopa County records. Their study excluded lecturers, adjunct, and emeriti faculty. 

One significant finding noted by The College Fix: a vast majority of psychology professors were Democrats: 48 to one Republican. 

The English department displayed a similar disparity: 64 Democrats to six Republicans. More professors were unaffiliated in that department (about 20) or unknown (just over 10).

Sociology also had a similar disparity: 38 professors registered as Democrats compared with just two Republicans. Nine were unaffiliated, 11 were unknown. 

History professors were 22 in number registered as Democrats, with just two Republicans.

Politics and global studies professors were 25 in number unaffiliated, 21 registered as Democrats, and two registered as Republicans.

In a similar prior study by The College Fix, the University of Arizona was also found to have a predominance of Democratic professors. 

The predominance of Democratic registrations among professors would explain last year’s faculty controversy over a watchlist of professors accused of discrimination against conservative students. 

The university had shut down the T.W. Lewis Center for Personal Development within the Barrett Honors College after its principal funder withdrew funding due to the “left-wing hostility and activism” of Barrett Honors College faculty.

39 of the 47 faculty members in the college had launched a campaign for action to be taken following an event featuring three conservative speakers on campus: Charlie Kirk, the founder and president of Turning Point USA; Dennis Prager, a radio talk show host and founder of PragerU; and Robert Kiyosaki, an author and presenter with PragerU. 

ASU removed on-campus marketing of the event following the Barrett Honors College faculty opposition campaign.

Those faculty members also recruited students to oppose the event beforehand. 

Following the controversial event featuring the three conservative speakers, ASU let go of two faculty members: Ann Atkinson, who had been the executive of the Lewis Center, and Lin Blake, who had been the operator of the venue where the event was held, the Gammage Theater. 

The predominance of Democrats within ASU faculty hasn’t deterred students from registering Republican and turning out for president-elect Donald Trump this year. 

About a month before the election, thousands of students and young adults turned out for a voter registration event, “Greeks for Trump,” spearheaded by Turning Point USA. Spectators observed a sea of students donning “MAGA” hats.

The surge in youth support for Republican candidates translated to the state flipping back red this election from the last, and the state legislature expanding its Republican majority.

AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.

New Report: Faith-Based Groups Play ‘Integral Role’ In Serving The Needy

New Report: Faith-Based Groups Play ‘Integral Role’ In Serving The Needy

By Matthew Holloway |

A new report from the Center for American Institutions (CAI) at Arizona State University (ASU) has revealed that faith-based organizations are playing an “integral role” in addressing housing and food insecurity, addiction, at-risk youth, and more.

The report on “Religion, Charity and American Life,” is entitled A Thousand Points of Light Still Shine and was compiled with survey and research data from the CAI with feedback from faith leaders Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., and Rabbi Pinchas Allouche.

In a press release, CAI wrote, “While often overlooked, volunteers from congregations of many faiths feed, clothe, and support our communities, according to the report. They collect and distribute food. They help with rent and utilities and point people to additional organizations that can assist. The authors of the study said it can be seen as a call to action and a reminder of the necessity to affirm the religious liberty necessary to make way for these institutions to do this life-sustaining support and outreach.”

The report noted that in the metro Phoenix area, Jewish Family and Children’s Services is known for providing treatment for illnesses, mental health problems, and drug abuse. It also assists people with food insecurity, offering nutritional assistance and even dental referrals. The Living Streams Church’s food pantry of Central Phoenix feeds approximately 5,000 people per year working Mondays through Thursdays. The Catholic St. Vincent de Paul conferences, small groups of volunteers within local parishes, conduct food deliveries to needy people within their parish boundaries.

A Jewish temple located in Phoenix doesn’t operate a food pantry but rather its members contribute their time and money to two nearby pre-existing food pantries. The CAI observed that other congregations, such as a Disciples of Christ Church in Phoenix, also contributed to nearby pantries.

Looking further, the report found that 86% of food pantries in Detroit, Michigan, that are found on findhelp.org are faith-based with many housed-on church property and run by volunteer staff. CAI also found that four of the seven “best” drug addiction treatment centers in the Detroit metro area, as reported by Addiction Resource, are also faith-based.

The report notes that the role played by faith-based groups in combating food insecurity is crucial.

“Since the COVID-19 pandemic, a growing number of Americans are caught in a squeeze. As food prices skyrocketed, along with other basic needs like transportation, housing, and energy, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps) did not keep up. In a 2023 survey conducted by Feeding America, the largest American charity focused on food insecurity, 65 percent of food banks reported increasing demand. Food pantries, meanwhile, found that food inflation meant their contributions did not go as far as they did pre-pandemic, even as lines at their doors grew longer.”

The study also drew attention to the dangers of the heat to the homeless during Arizona summer finding, “Summer in Phoenix can be deadly without access to water and cooling. Alongside public hydration and cooling stations, faith-based groups go to homeless camps and distribute water and necessities. For example, St. Vincent de Paul has trucks that make the rounds to places where homeless people congregate to hand out water, food, and supplies. On a smaller scale, Sunnyslope Ministries of Hope distributes water in central Phoenix most every summer evening, along with personal care items and shoes. Also, in Phoenix, Young Single Adult groups from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) congregations take part in distributing aid to the homeless.”

Rabbi Pinchas Allouche, Founding Rabbi of Congregation Beth Tefillah, also contributed to the report writing, “Faith-based organizations are the lifeblood of America’s moral fabric, calling each of us to fulfill our God-given responsibility to heal the world. Through acts of goodness and kindness, we can restore faith in humanity and remind the world that light can dispel even the thickest darkness. This call to action can propel readers to reflect on how they, too, can contribute to making the world more divine through small yet powerful acts of goodness and kindness. It will also highlight the importance of treating each other with respect, as God’s children who are all part of God’s human family.”

The commission made four key recommendations based upon the collected data:

  • Faith-based organizations need to do a better job of informing the general public of these programs. On a community level, faith-based organizations should consider creating a collective website to report on their activities.
  • Greater media attention needs to be driven by individual churches, synagogues, temples, and faith-based charities to newspapers, the media, and social media about the stories of individuals who have benefited from their programs. Americans love success stories.
  • Media itself should give more attention to the importance of faith-based charities and programs in their communities.
  • Americans need a better understanding of religious liberty, as embodied in the First Amendment. This should begin in the classroom. State legislators and school boards should require that time be given in the classroom to the foundational concept of religious liberty in American life.

Professor Donald Critchlow, Director of the Center for American Institutions at ASU, explained, “Religion is under unprecedented attack on multiple fronts, with growing secularization, declining attendance, and hate-filled attacks on people of faith. And yet, as this report illustrates in vivid detail, volunteers from various religious congregations are still showing up for those most in need in their local communities.”

He added, “The irony is that while faith-based organizations are more active in our communities today than at any time in modern American history, these good works coincide with a rise in hate crimes.”

Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.

ASU President Critical Of Department Of Education Amid Talks Of Its Dissolution

ASU President Critical Of Department Of Education Amid Talks Of Its Dissolution

By Staff Reporter |

Arizona State University (ASU) President Michael Crow may not be in outright support of President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Department of Education (ED), but he does seem to favor the idea of reform at the very least.

In Politico coverage gauging university presidents’ sentiments toward another Trump administration, Crow voiced a desire for an ED overhaul. Crow made the remarks during the annual Higher Education-News Media Dinner-Discussion at the University of Pennsylvania Club of New York City (Penn Club), which he hosted. 

Crow said that ED student loans largely prove to be a waste of taxpayer dollars, since a majority of recipients don’t graduate.

“The Department of Education is a mismatch of bank feeds that have been cobbled together over 50 years of congressional history or more,” said Crow. “If you look at the United States and our success, we have almost three quarters of a trillion dollars being spent on Pell Grants in the last few decades, and more than half of those individuals have never graduated from college.”

Crow went on to say that the federal student loans weren’t having their intended effects — more citizens with a higher education that, in all likelihood, would strengthen the economy, depress poverty, spur innovation, and raise the education level (and welfare) of subsequent generations — since most borrowers weren’t getting their degrees.  

“Most of the people that have loans supported by the government of the United States have no diplomas, no certificates, no degrees of any kind,” said Crow. “Clearly, something is not yet perfected and so what we need is new designs, new models, new ways of doing things.”

Trump vowed to abolish ED in a campaign promise made last year. The proposal was released as part of his “Agenda47” platform outlining his plan for his second and nonconsecutive term. 

In his campaign promise, Trump said he would revert education authority and responsibilities to the states entirely. The president-elect explained the low education outcomes weren’t worth the high rates of federal spending and bureaucracy.

“And one other thing I’ll be doing very early in the administration is closing up the Department of Education in Washington D.C. and sending all education and education work and needs back to the States. We want them to run the education of our children, because they’ll do a much better job of it. You can’t do worse. We spend more money per pupil, by three times, than any other nation. And yet we’re absolutely at the bottom. We’re one of the worst. So you can’t do worse. We’re going to end education coming out of Washington D.C. We’re going to close it up — all those buildings all over the place and yet people that in many cases hate our children. We’re going to send it all back to the States.”

Under the late Democratic president Jimmy Carter, the U.S. founded the ED in 1980 through legislation splitting the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare into two: ED, and the Department of Health and Human Services. 

ED received about four percent of the fiscal year 2024 budget, and its budget sits at around $240 billion. ED provides over $150 billion in new and consolidated loans annually. 

ED has the smallest staff of the 15 Cabinet agencies, consisting of about 4,400 employees. 

Those employees are split among 17 offices within the department: Federal Student Aid; Institute of Education Services; Office of the Chief Information Officer; Office of Communications and Outreach; Office for Civil Rights; Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education; Office of the Deputy Secretary; Office of English Language Acquisition; Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; Office of Finance and Operations; Office of the General Counsel; Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs; Office of Postsecondary Education; Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development; Office of the Secretary; Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services; and Office of the Under Secretary. 

South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds introduced a bill to abolish ED, the Returning Education to Our States Act. The bill proposed to shift certain programs to other departments.

AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.

Study Finds Significantly More Democrat Professors At ASU Than Republicans

ASU Professor: University Canceled Its Only Course On Christianity For The Spring Of 2025

By Matthew Holloway |

Dr. Owen Anderson of Arizona State University (ASU) reported earlier this week that an examination of the ASU course catalog for the Spring 2025 semester shows that the school does not offer any classes on Christianity. Although the website itself does list Anderson’s REL 270 course, he reports that it “didn’t have enough enrollment, so it was canceled.” He added, “Religious Studies blocked its general education requirements, so students would not be helped toward graduation.”

A course on the New Testament of the Bible is offered, however, it is an online course, which curiously does not require the Bible as a required text. Instead, it requires  “How To Read the Bible,” by liberation theologian Harvey Cox, the 95-year-old former Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School. According to U.S. Catholic, “Liberation theology is a social and political movement within the church that attempts to interpret the gospel of Jesus Christ through the lived experiences of oppressed people.”

In Cox’s text he wrote, “There is scarcely one figure in the entire Hebrew scripture we would want our children to emulate.”

In the same work, he also is quoted writing, “The dominant ethos of the twenty-first century consists of an intermingling of the sacred and the secular.”

Anderson added that the university contrasts this by offering seven different courses on magic and witchcraft.

In a post to X, Anderson said, “ASU has canceled its only Religious Studies course on Christianity for the Spring of 2025. You will find all of the other world’s religions taught at ASU, as well as a healthy representation of classes about witchcraft. ASU currently has more events about the benefits of witchcraft than it has courses on Christianity. What is going on? Why would any Christians want to study a humanities topic at ASU when this is how they are treated…”

In his post to Substack, Anderson noted that although Christianity is taught in the coursework of other classes, “Christianity does not get a dedicated class the way Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Witchcraft do.”

The tenured professor argued that parents and students both need the ability to provide input on how the university’s schedule is built: “Parents and students, you need to know how the schedule is built and what classes you are filtered toward. It is a false choice. They give you the appearance of free will. ‘Do you want Buddhism or Witchcraft?’ Either way, you’ll be learning what they want, and you will not be represented.”

Responding to a commenter on X who was disappointed in the university’s decision, Dr. Anderson advised, “This one is done. But you can write an email to the Dean of the Religious studies department. I always recommend that such interactions be respectful.”

Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.

ASU President Critical Of Department Of Education Amid Talks Of Its Dissolution

AZ Board Of Regents Gives ASU President A New Contract With Pay Raise And Bonuses

By Matthew Holloway |

The Arizona Board of Regents held special board and committee meetings last week. And despite a year of scandal and serious allegations, Arizona State University (ASU) President Michael Crow received a significant pay increase along with a contract extension.

For those who’ve been keeping up with the news regarding ASU over the past year, scandals included:

Given all of the above, one might expect that university leaders would face a reckoning from the Arizona Board of Regents, but they would be wrong.

According to AZCentral, Crow will now receive a base salary of $892,500, around a 7% increase over his last contract, and the new agreement will keep him with the university until June 2029.

The ASU President has also received an additional $305,000 in bonuses for meeting goals laid out for him by the board. According to the report, these goals included “launching a training center to support the semiconductor industry in the state and creating a strategic plan to implement AI at the school.” He was also up for an additional $35,000 if the university exceeded a 10% enrollment growth goal over 2021 numbers, which ASU missed.

As reported by The College Fix, College Republicans at ASU called for an investigation into possible election interference when “70,000 Arizona State students received a text from the Kamala Harris campaign which is data from the Arizona state database and should be confidential!”

Carson Carpenter, president of College Republicans at ASU, told the outlet that the group had confirmed that the text message from Kamala Harris’ failed campaign was sent to “students from [all] Arizona universities,” including ASU, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona.

The group asked, “If Kamala Harris has access to all of Arizona college students’ phone numbers, what ELSE do they have?”

In an emailed statement to College Fix, an ASU Spokesman told reporters on condition of anonymity, “Under Arizona Public Records Law, ASU’s records are public unless there is a specific confidentiality requirement.”

“While most student records are confidential under [the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act], FERPA exempts from confidentiality ‘directory information,’ which includes contact information. ASU is therefore required to release student directory information upon request.”

State Representative Jake Hoffmann posted to X that he would be launching a full Senate investigation into the matter, which he called, “a MAJOR security breach!”

He added, “I’m receiving lots of evidence from many Arizona public university students who received unsolicited text messages promoting Kamala Harris for president that appear to have come from Arizona universities illegally providing their personally identifiable information to her campaign. This seems like yet more election interference in Arizona, which is why my investigation for the Arizona Senate has already begun.”

Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs and Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne serve on the board as ex-Officio members. However, neither were present for the meeting or took part in the vote to approve Crow’s contract. According to the annotated meeting agenda, the vote to approve was unanimous with seven of the twelve voting members present, “Regents Mata, Goodyear, DuVal, Penley, Pacheco, Brewster, Archuleta, Stein, and Zaragoza voted in favor. None opposed and none abstained.”

The regents are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. With the exception of the Governor, Superintendent, and two student members, they serve 8-year terms.

In the meeting agenda and annotation, no mention is made of the ongoing controversies that have rocked ASU in 2024.

Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.