Arizona State University (ASU) received over $3.4 million in funds from the nonprofit founded by leading Democratic dark money donor George Soros.
The online data guru Jennica Pounds, known by her username @DataRepublican, named ASU as a recurring recipient of Soros funds as part of nearly a decade of grants from the Open Society Foundations (OSF).
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Ever wonder where George Soros is sending his money? 👀 I've extracted and published the public Open Society Foundations grant database in spreadsheet format. This is your chance to dig through the receipts. 📂🧾
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— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) May 12, 2025
Pounds — who boasts a background as a software engineer for leading American tech companies including Amazon, eBay, Snap, and Upstart — gained recognition among Republican voters and the Trump administration for building AI tools to assist with the ongoing Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort to identify and eliminate wasteful or fraudulent spending.
Pounds’ latest project focused on cataloguing Soros’ philanthropic arm.
From 2018 to 2022, the ASU Foundation received $169,000 for the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College; $200,000 for the Connected Learning in Crisis Consortium; $1.2 million for the McCain Institute for International Leadership; $200,000 for improving learning amid crises and conflict; $22,000 to bring together global educational leaders, and $24,000 for the New American University.
One of OSF’s largest donations to ASU was over $1.5 million for English Second Language (ESL) at the Open Society University Network (OSUN).
Soros established OSUN in January 2020 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world. OSUN serves as a global collaboration of universities. ASU was among the first to be included in OSUN. Of note, ASU’s page for OSUN omits any mention of Soros as the establisher of the network.
Other American universities to later join OSUN were the Bard Early Colleges of Baltimore, Cleveland, Manhattan, New Orleans, Newark, Queens, and Washington, D.C.; the Bard Prison Initiative; Picker Center for Executive Education at Columbia University; Bard College at Simon’s Rock; University of Connecticut Human Rights Institute; Talloires Network of Engaged Universities; Princeton Global History Lab; Tuskegee University; University of California’s Berkeley Human Rights Center; and the University of Pittsburgh’s Afghanistan Project at the Center for Governance and Markets.
Other Arizona-based entities to receive Soros money were:
Arizona Wins ($3.875 million);
Living United For Change in Arizona ($3.3 million);
One Arizona ($1.8 million);
Our Voice, Our Vote Arizona ($1 million);
League of Conservation Voters ($750,000);
Inter Tribal Council of Arizona ($500,000);
Community Foundation for Southern Arizona ($500,000);
Arizona Community Foundation ($400,000);
ADRC Action ($300,000);
PODER ($100,000);
Poder in Action ($75,000);
YWCA of Southern Arizona ($60,000)
Arizona Center for Empowerment ($37,000, and another $325,000 through the Center for Popular Democracy, a partner organization)
Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence ($25,000);
Sonoran Prevention Works ($15,000)
Other entities were paid by OSF throughout the years to engage in advocacy in Arizona and, ultimately, influence state policies and laws. Among those who received payment for advocacy were: Invest in Education, $700,000; re:power Fund, $200,000; State Engagement Fund, $170,000; PAFCO Education Fund, $150,000; Alliance for Youth Organizing, $50,000; and Vote.org, $20,000.
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The leader of the Chandler Unified School District (CUSD) governing board declines to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance, worrying some CUSD families over the implications.
A video obtained by board meeting attendees shows CUSD Board President Patti Serrano exercising her First Amendment right by standing with her hand over her heart and refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
Many of those who protest the patriotic recited verse are usually in protest of the current state of the country or the very existence and idea of America.
The Pledge of Allegiance represents a citizen’s oath of loyalty to the American flag and the republic it symbolizes, defined as an indivisible “one nation under God” that affords liberty and justice for all its citizens.
AZ Free News contacted Serrano about her refusal to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance. We did not receive a response.
Last month, a CUSD community member asked Serrano about her refusal to participate. Serrano said she would not respond publicly about her reason for not reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, since it was not an agenda item for that meeting.
“I won’t participate in any discussion at this time,” said Serrano. “Public comment is not a time for engagement, and I’m more than happy to reach out to you personally.”
Serrano’s refusal to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance aligns with her other progressive values: legalizing abortion, increasing gun control, advancing LGBTQ+ ideologies in minors, and supporting Islamic terrorist groups aligned with Palestine.
When Serrano took her oath of office for the board in 2023, she swore on the book, “Life is a Banquet,” rather than the Bible. The book, written by Arizona State University (ASU) professor and Drag Story Hour Arizona founder David Boyles, describes the sexual experiences and explicit fantasies of a fictional minor male who goes on to reject the values of his conservative, Christian parents and adopt the progressive ideologies of ASU students.
Boyles likened Serrano taking her oath of office on his book to the Biblical account in which God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac.
Also in 2023, Serrano helped organize the appearance of Democratic Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib for an ASU protest in the weeks following the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. Tlaib has advocated for the eradication of Israel from the land. Serrano organized the event as the southwest regional coordinator for the Progressive Democrats of America.
Following Serrano’s role in the Tlaib affair, CUSD families called for Serrano’s resignation. Their call to action was dwarfed by the appearance of around 150 supporters from inside and outside the district at a board meeting, mobilized by former CUSD board member Lindsay Love. Love was also one to inspire controversy during her time on the board for publicizing political views similar to those held by Serrano. Love left the board after one term, citing tensions with the CUSD community as her reason for not seeking reelection.
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The ASU ‘Aliento’ Club, a pro-illegal immigration activist nonprofit funded by George Soros, hosted a training workshop entitled “Know your Rights,” aimed at providing illegal immigrant students with strategies to avoid deportation.
According to Cronkite News, the event “aimed to empower students with information about their rights following the changing landscape of U.S. immigration policies.” Co-chair of Aliento at ASU Emily Sotelo Estrada told Cronkite, “All of these students … they have homes. They have families. And it’s important that they know their rights. So the purpose of this presentation was to, for one, educate them, because we at Aliento believe that that’s the most important, most powerful tool that we all have.”
In a post to X, Aliento stated that the organization had made presentations to “240+ students, 21 schools, 75 conversations,” as well as “two powerful days at the AZ Capitol!”
The group also celebrated an Aliento protest led by Estrada against a peaceful tabling demonstration by the College Republicans United at Arizona State (CRU) on February 5th.
We’re proud of Emily Sotelo Estrada, Co-Chair of Aliento at ASU, for speaking to AZ Central and standing up for our students. Every student deserves to feel safe on campus.💖#ASU#AlientoAZpic.twitter.com/Ek0RGdTgUl
As reported by the Arizona Daily Independent, Aliento was founded by Reyna Montoya, who was the recipient of $132,200 in seed-money from George Soros’ Open Society Institute in 2016-18 “to organize people directly affected by the immigration detention system to generate narratives that emphasize the humanity of those in detention and to create policy recommendations for reform.”
The workshop provided ASU’s illegal immigrant and activist students with useful tips such as how to readily identify ICE vehicles, the laws surrounding legal searches, and contact numbers for immigration attorneys.
In an image published by Cronkite, an Aliento slide can be seen advising illegal immigrants to “Have a U.S. citizen or someone who is not undocumented drive,” and “Limit your driving to essentials,” in addition to advising that with police, “Know any interaction could lead to an arrest,” and that they should “Discern emergency from help,” suggesting that they should avoid contacting police except as a last resort.
The organization also advised illegal immigrants to explicitly use their U.S.-born children as proxies to interact with state agencies suggesting: “ONLY give information to US Children when asking for public benefits – DO NOT LIE or give inaccurate info.”
Diana Cortes, program chair for Aliento at ASU, told the university publication, “The fear and everything that’s growing – we’re just here to listen to the people’s concerns and address them. We’re having ‘Know Your Rights’ and all of those workshops in response to what’s being asked from us from our community.”
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.
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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.
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