Arizona State University (ASU) leadership has ignored Meghan McCain’s request to condemn the pro-Hamas protest that occurred on campus last week.
The ASU chapter of Students For Justice in Palestine (SJP) held the protest. The silence from ASU leadership prompted McCain to question the decision to have the name of her late father, Sen. John McCain, associated with a new library at ASU.
“No entity that condones such behavior on their campus has any business hosting my fathers library in his name. Full stop,” said McCain.
No entity that condones such behavior on their campus has any business hosting my fathers library in his name. Full stop.
I severely encourage the heads of Arizona State University @ASU to come out and condemn this support of Hamas immediately. https://t.co/CZAanptOpO
One user asked whether foreign students who attended the protest would have their visa status revoked due to their support of a terrorist group. Hamas is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).
Question. My understanding is that foreign students are required to answer if they are members o support any terrorist group in order to get a visa. So, if a foreign student support Hamas is his/her visa automatically revoked?
On Sunday, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) requested Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to revoke the visa statuses of those who attended any pro-Hamas protests.
SJP of ASU held the rally at the behest of their National SJP, which called for a National Day of Resistance last Thursday. Not all campuses who pledged to participate ended up following through.
University of Arizona (UArizona) President Robert Robbins issued a condemnation of pro-Hamas sentiment from the SJP chapter on their campus, but ultimately allowed the protest to take place on First Amendment grounds.
“The national organization has made statements endorsing the actions of Hamas in Israel, which are, of course, antithetical to our university’s values,” said Robbins.
The SJP of UArizona canceled their protest in response to Robbins’ letter, declaring that the president’s rhetoric endangered them. The chapter denied endorsement of Hamas activity, specifically distancing themselves from the National SJP.
“[O]ur organization is independently run and led specifically by students at the University of Arizona. Associating our chapter with any and all claims made by other SJP affiliates is a gross misrepresentation of our values, clearly designed to misalign our goals and demonize our presence on campus,” said the chapter.
Yet, SJP of UArizona heeded the National SJP’s call to host its protest on the National Day of Resistance.
In their call to action, the National SJP declared in a since-deleted post that Hamas terrorism constituted “a historic win for Palestinian resistance” and encouraged its supporters to engage in “armed confrontation with the oppressors” in addition to rallies. The toolkit provided for hosting the National Day of Resistance included the infamous template depicting a Hamas paraglider.
“This is what it means to Free Palestine: not just slogans and rallies, but armed confrontation with the oppressors,” stated NSJP.
I would simply not declare the mass murder of civilians "a historic win" for my cause in which "our people" acted against "the enemy" to "capture over a dozen settlements" and call for more "armed confrontation with the oppressors." pic.twitter.com/ixli3DtNeB
SJP of ASU plans to hold another protest at the end of this month.
ATTENTION ARIZONA: ALL OUT FOR PALESTINE. On Saturday, October 21st, we will be having a rally and march for Palestine. The fight for justice and liberation is not over.
The Arizona State University (ASU) professor who founded Drag Story Hour Arizona assaulted a cameraman, then issued a public statement claiming he was the victim.
ASU professor David Boyles is seen on video grabbing at the cameraman with Turning Point USA (TPUSA), a right-leaning activist nonprofit. Boyles lunged for the camera following a series of questions concerning Boyles’ beliefs and teachings posed by the cameraman’s colleague.
“Our TPUSA Frontlines reporter tried to ask self-professed ‘sex education obsessed’ queer ASU Professor David Boyles, a few simple questions. Refusing to answer, our cameras caught the exact moment Mr. Boyles assaulted, pushed, and clawed at our cameraman,” stated the organization.
🚨ASU Professor assaults TPUSA cameraman, caught on video 🚨
Our TPUSA Frontlines reporter tried to ask self-professed “sex education obsessed” queer ASU Professor David Boyles, a few simple questions. Refusing to answer, our cameras caught the exact moment Mr. Boyles assaulted,… pic.twitter.com/YJWBEzSgRx
Following TPUSA’s public statement, it appears that Boyles went to the media with his story. In its initial report, The Arizona Republic claimed in its headline that Boyles was targeted in a campus garage for his sexuality. The original headline read: “‘Targeted’: ASU Investigating After Queer Instructor Confronted in Tempe Campus Garage.” It also didn’t mention TPUSA or their video.
By the next morning, however, The Arizona Republic updated its headline to read, “‘You Can’t Run’: ASU Investigating After Queer Instructor Confronted By Turning Point USA ‘Crew.’”
AZ Free News asked The Arizona Republic whether they knew of the TPUSA video prior to publishing the original article. Their reporter didn’t respond by press time.
Boyles accused the TPUSA men of terrorism for filming him while asking him questions.
“Stop coddling these… terrorists,” wrote Boyles. “These people should be shunned from society.”
Boyles also stated on Instagram that he was jumped from behind by the TPUSA reporter asking questions. TPUSA countered in its video that Boyles fell and injured himself after the reporter removed him from their cameraman.
Also contrary to TPUSA’s video, Boyles claimed that the two individuals who questioned and filmed him had “shouted” at him.
“One filmed on his phone while the other shouted horrible and incendiary things at me, repeating standard right-wing nonsense about Drag Story Hour and also accusing me personally of pedophilia and hating America,” wrote Boyles. “[I feel] angry, violated, embarrassed and despairing at the fact that we have come to normalize this kind of harassment and violence.”
Boyles contested with AZ Free News reporting on his past remarks. The Arizona Republic, incorrectly referring to our outlet as “Arizona Free News,” recharacterized his post about planting pornographic LGBTQ+ books in libraries as “suggesting new titles to [Boyles’] local library.”
In his blog, Boyles said the community needed to “plant more queer books on the shelves of your local library,” with examples given of “Gender Queer” and “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” both of which contain LGBTQ+ pornographic material.
Elsewhere on his blog, Boyles encouraged people to advocate for LGBTQ+-inclusive, pleasure-centered sex education for minors.
“[A]busive, patriarchal fundamentalists […] fear the liberatory power of queer sexuality,” wrote Boyles.
Boyles accused AZ Free News of being a “right-wing propaganda website.” He has since hid his Substack behind a paywall, and made his Instagram page private.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) issued three percent raises to Arizona’s three university presidents, bringing their collective salaries to over $2.2 million, with the three also receiving nearly $600,000 in bonuses altogether.
ABOR issued the bonuses and raises during its meeting last Friday.
Arizona State University (ASU) President Michael Crow’s new base salary is now $834,100. Crow also received a $150,000 bonus. His contract was extended through June 2028.
The $150,000 bonus came from three annual at-risk compensation goals, each worth $50,000: designing and launching a premium brand for ASU online; developing and launching a plan to move the three core brands of the W.P. Carey School of Business, Fulton Schools of Engineering, and the Barrett Honors Colleges into three global brands; and designing and launching a new Health Futures Strategy which included development of a holistic approach around health sciences, similar to their engineering programs, and designing and preparing for the launch of the Public Health Technology School.
Crow will potentially receive another $180,000 bonus next year, should he accomplish the three proposed at-risk compensation goals for 2023-2024.
The first goal concerns a science and technology economic development strategy to design tools, levers, and processes necessary to move Arizona from the top of the third tier as determined by Milken Institute to the bottom of the first tier. The first goal’s metrics include active engagement and the role of tech transfer, with strategic pathways document being the product.
The second goal concerns the creation of an all-industry semiconductor industry training sector for the state: semiconductors, advanced battery technology, high-tech computation and systems, and artificial intelligence (AI). Additionally, Crow would have to build the Learning Enterprise training programs with advanced digital learning for enhanced and accelerated workforce development drawing from ASU content. This second goal’s metrics include the design and launch of the special digital training center across the sectors with industrial participation in each and every aspect.
The third goal concerns the creation of an AI strategy to optimize its use in teaching, learning, and discovery activities. This third goal’s metrics include a plan and launch strategy.
ABOR also proposed to take away $30,000 from any 2023-24 at-risk compensation awarded should Crow fail to fully implement the General Education Program for all first-time incoming students in Fall 2024.
Northern Arizona State University (NAU) President José Luis Cruz Rivera’s new base salary is now $594,100. Cruz Rivera also received a $135,000 bonus. His contract was extended through June 2026.
The $135,000 bonus came from three annual at-risk compensation goals, each worth $45,000: a new system encompassing in-person, online, and hybrid learning modalities, branch campuses, community college partnerships, and engagement with the state’s K-12 system; revamping NAU Online with focused external consultation regarding academic program offerings and operations in areas such as student outreach, recruitment and engagement, instructional design, and academic support; increasing enrollments and enhancing post-graduate career preparation opportunities.
Cruz Rivera will potentially receive another $150,000 bonus next year, should he accomplish the two proposed at-risk compensation goals for 2023-2024.
The first goal concerns the launch of NAU Health, part of ABOR’s Arizona Healthy Tomorrow initiative. The new program will double the number of credentials awarded in health-related fields by 2030, namely for physicians and practitioners targeted to serve in urban, rural, and indigenous communities. Milestones for this goal will include the establishment of the College of Nursing, launch of the Office of NAU Health, hiring senior leadership to structure and coordinate existing academic programs and research for medical academia expansion, and publication of a plan to establish the College of Applied Community Medicine.
The second goal concerns collaboration with ABOR to produce a multi-year strategic and operational plan for building a network of colleges powered and coordinated by NAU. One milestone for this goal is proposing actions for ABOR endorsement on market assessment, concept and structural mission, funding and advocacy strategies, and design specifications. Other milestones concern the launch of an A++ certified academic pathway for Fall 2024 with A++ certified partners, seeking intergovernmental agreements for implementation, and expansion into the K-12 realm using NAU’s Arizona Institute for Education and the Economy.
University of Arizona (UArizona) President Robert Robbins’ new base salary is now $816,100. Robbins also received a $132,500 bonus. His contract was extended through June 2026.
The $132,500 bonus came from three annual at-risk compensation goals, each worth about $45,000: secure $200 million in initial funding commitment from the state, local government, or private donors for establishing the Center for Advanced Molecular Immunotherapies; develop a plan and timeline to centralize responsibility and balance local authority in the administrative functional areas of Information Technology and Financial and Business Services; work with the Department of Education and accrediting bodies to fully absorb UArizona’s Global Campus. The first goal was only partially achieved.
Robbins will potentially receive another $150,000 bonus next year, should he accomplish the two proposed at-risk compensation goals for 2023-2024.
The first goal concerns the establishment of a multi-institutional translational research, education, and innovation park in the city of Maricopa with focuses on food safety and sustainability, automation and autonomous systems, drug and vaccine development, digital health and biotechnology, climate technology, aggrotech, and battery technology. Milestones include achieving a planned vote or completion of annexation by the city; plans with local government leaders for a network of supportive infrastructure to sustain growth, attract and retain investment, retail services, office development residential and hotel development; a leasing plan with external developers; the launch of internal and external communications and campaign strategy; an initial catalog of proposed programs; tribal endorsement; ABOR approval of a governance model; a five-year funding plan for site development; and an initial construction proposal for the first buildings by fall 2025.
The second goal concerns the defining and funding of the Arizona Institute of Data and Computing in coordination with the Colleges of Engineering, Medicine, Science and Business, with a focus on AI, data, and computing. Milestones include a structural and funding plan presented by June 2024, at least $5 million in initial funding commitments secured by June 2024, and the organization of at least one summit or event involving key industry, government, funding, and academic leaders by June 2024.
ABOR also proposed to take away $20,000 from Robbins’ total at-risk compensation for 2023-24 if he fails to complete the centralization of Information Technology Services.
The three presidents also received another $45,000 bonus each for meeting collective annual at-risk compensation goals: proposing a comprehensive and sustainable model for state funding of the three universities ($80,000); developing and promoting the Arizona Promise Program with high public awareness and consistency across the three universities, especially regarding financial aid award letters ($20,000); completing a comprehensive risk assessment of online education using Department of Education regulations, projected demand, potential competitors, employer attitudes toward online education, online alumni wages versus immersion alumni wages, and impacts on university branding with corresponding recommendations issued ($80,000).
For 2023-24, ABOR proposed another $240,000 in collective at-risk compensation goals. The first goal concerns a plan to improve Arizona residents’ post-high school educational attainment outcomes by 10 percent over three years. The second goal concerns a comprehensive review of university international strategies and operations. The third goal concerns the implementation of the Arizona Promise Program through marketing, award deferrals, and protocols.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Arizona State University (ASU) President Michael Crow called for a globalist revolution to counter climate change in a recently published book.
In the book published last week, “Democracy in a Hotter Time: Climate Change and Democratic Transformation,” Crow declared that the principles of the Founding are no longer sufficient.
“Although the philosophical underpinnings of our democratic experiment were pragmatically balanced by the founders, the pivotal formulations of the U.S. Constitution failed to protect nature,” wrote Crow.
Crow’s remarks echoed the sentiments made by the principal author of the book, ASU Professor David Orr, who wrote in his foreword that the time is ripe for a bold experiment in a new kind of democracy worldwide.
“Against all odds, [our Founders] imagined and launched the first modern democracy. Imperfect though it was, the fledgling nation had the capacity for self-repair evolving toward ‘a more perfect union,’” wrote Orr. “Our challenge, similarly, requires us to begin the world anew, conceiving and building a fair, decent, and effective democracy, this time better fitted to a planet with an ecosphere.”
Unlike the Founding Fathers — who founded this country on self-evident truths of equality and God-endowed inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness — the globalist revolutionaries in this latest book declared that a new form of governance must serve the environment alongside mankind.
The ASU president also lamented that the current system of representative democracy has allowed for “scientific[ally] or technological[ly] illitera[te]” elected officials who oppose progressive climate initiatives.
“It is, after all, the deficiencies of the democratic process that have allowed the election of unscrupulous politicians who deny climate change or obstruct efforts to combat environmental degradation,” stated Crow. “Scientific or technological illiteracy among policy-makers and elected officials is matched by a growing affluent class that valorizes individualism over civic engagement and is insulated from complex sociotechnical issues.”
Crow also criticized individualism and Enlightenment philosophies as a threat to natural resources, indicating the need for limitations on personal freedoms in a climate change revolution.
“[T]he principles of capitalism as articulated by Adam Smith in ‘The Wealth of Nations’ imposed no limits on economic individualism or the inclination of societies to exploit natural resources capriciously,” said Crow. “Approaches that ameliorate the interrelated conundrums that now plague the Earth’s systems will require systems-level thinking that challenges the reductionist assumptions of the Enlightenment.”
As part of the new democracy, Crow proposed that contemporary research universities such as ASU be the entities responsible for the social, economic, cultural, political, scientific, and technological well-being of local communities. In order to fulfill this responsibility, universities’ institutional design would be reworked to facilitate transdisciplinary research rather than individual attainment.
“Approaches that ameliorate the interrelated conundrums that now plague the Earth’s systems will require systems-level thinking that challenges the reductionist assumptions of the Enlightenment,” said Crow. “[T]he preservation of our democracy amid the emerging global crisis of rapid climate change requires that we recalibrate our academic culture.”
Orr clarified in the introduction of the book that Crow intends to reform higher education so that students are indoctrinated in climate change activism.
“The five-alarm nature of climate chaos requires revising curriculum, research, and innovation throughout higher education and changing requirements for graduation so that every student in every field knows what planet they’re on, how it works, and why such things are important for our public life and for their own lives and careers,” wrote Orr.
This envisioned role of higher education corresponds with the Democracy Initiative of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, whose express goals within its inaugural Democracy and Climate Change Conference last year inspired the headline of Crow’s chapter and the book.
One conference panel questioned the Constitution as a hindrance to climate change solutions.
The conference’s keynote speaker was Al Gore, former President Bill Clinton’s vice president, failed 2000 Democratic presidential nominee, and longtime environmental activist. Gore said that government response to COVID-19 provided a model for response to climate change.
“[I]t’s up to us to muster the political will to implement those solutions and restore the integrity of our democracy,” said Gore.
Gore’s 2006 award-winning movie warning about the dire consequences of climate change made many predictions that failed to come true, such as higher sea levels, increased temperatures due to rising CO2 levels, more tornadoes, extinction of the polar bears, the complete melt of the Arctic, total drought of the Sahel, and the polluting effects of CO2.
In March, Capital Research Center documented how Gore has consistently failed to issue accurate advice or predictions on climate change over the last 30 years. Yet, Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in 2007.
Also present at the conference was Obama’s maternal half-sister and Obama Foundation consultant, Maya Soetoro-Ng.
Crow co-authored his chapter with William B. Dabars: a research professor for the ASU School for the Future of Innovation in Society, senior global futures scholar for the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory (GFL), and senior director of research for the New American University.
The GFL engages in Crow’s proposed transdisciplinary research core to the envisioned new democracy. The laboratory serves as a global hub of scientists and scholars working to “establish a new equilibrium between humankind and the dynamic Earth system.” The GFL work covers the depletion of natural resources, degradation of the environment, water scarcity, food security, energy systems, environmental and public health, and governance and policy.
GFL’s transdisciplinary design comes from its coordination with the Global Institute of Sustainability; Consortium for Science, Policy, and Outcomes; Rob and Melani Walton Center for Planetary Health; and the Innovation and the College of Global Futures along with its three Schools of Sustainability, Future of Innovation in Society, and Complex Adaptive Systems, respectively.
The New American University is Crow’s novel model of higher education designed to serve the public interest and societal well-being.
The Fifth Wave refers to the idea that American higher education progressed in waves. The Greek academies constituted the First Wave, state colleges constituted the Second Wave, land-grant colleges constituted the Third Wave, research universities constituted the Fourth Wave, and national service universities constituted the Fifth Wave. In addition to itself, ASU classified Penn State University, the University of Maryland system, and Purdue University as Fifth Wave institutions.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The Pentagon’s former policy chief on military relations between Russia and Ukraine — Arizona State University (AUS) McCain Institute Executive Director Evelyn Farkas — is leading an event focused on lobbying for more U.S. support in Ukraine.
The event, “Relentless Courage: Ukraine and the World at War,” will also feature Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, and panelists for a discussion, “One Way Forward: The Vitality of a Democratic Ukraine,” to advocate for continued Western support for Ukraine.
ASU’s McCain Institute and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Cronkite School) will co-host the event. Other featured speakers at the event include Cronkite School Dean Battinto Batts; peacebuilding advisor for Romanian Peace Institute, senior protection officer for Center for Civilians in Conflict, and 2022 McCain Global Leader Maria Levchenko; and photographer Svet Jacqueline.
Join us Sept. 25 in Phoenix for an event marking the opening of a new exhibit featuring photography from the book “Relentless Courage: Ukraine and the World at War.” Registration (in-person or livestream) is now open. https://t.co/iyu3SbXmRqpic.twitter.com/7lW9pnKOHN
The Biden administration has sent over $76 billion in aid to Ukraine since last year, with the president pushing for another $24 billion in the ongoing budget discussions. Last year, Congress approved $113 billion of aid to Ukraine.
While Obama’s deputy assistant secretary of defense to Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, Farkas advised on Russia’s first invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea in 2014 and was largely responsible for initiating the admission of Montenegro into NATO, a move that caused an escalation from Russia. Then and now, Russia views NATO as a threat.
Shortly after setting the wheels in motion for Montenegro’s admission to NATO and amid divisions within the Obama administration over the correct approach to Russia, Farkas resigned. Leading up to her resignation, Farkas issued similar calls for increased U.S. involvement in the Russia-Ukraine War.
“As the crisis deepens, our European allies and partners will look to the United States to demonstrate resolve and to reinforce solidarity across the continent,” said Farkas in a 2014 Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting.
Earlier this week, CNN featured Farkas to advocate for additional U.S. support for Ukraine.
Farkas said that it was America’s moral duty to submit to Ukraine President Vladimir Zelensky’s weaponry requests. Farkas characterized reluctance to continue funding to Ukraine as “fickle[ness].”
“If he doesn’t have these things, more civilians will die and more military will die fighting the Russians,” said Farkas. “Politically, certainly, the West can be fickle, and that’s what Vladimir Putin is counting on.”
Farkas upholds the belief that Ukraine’s outcome in this war will determine the “fate of all humanity.”
Caught up with humanitarian @chefjoseandres at #CGI2023 and we discussed how important it is to ensure that America and the world understands what is at stake in the war in Ukraine. The challenges in Ukraine are urgent for all of humanity. pic.twitter.com/qWLFo1327y
Little known fact @TerryMcAuliffe has been multiple times to the Ukrainian front line. He gets that the future of our international system and humanity begins and ends in Ukraine now. pic.twitter.com/OsXIcjWl5B
In February, the McCain Institute hosted the Ukraine Prosecutor General for a meeting with the newly-formed Ukraine Business Alliance (UBA). The UBA coordinates executives from American technology and defense companies, senior U.S. and Ukrainian government and military leaders, and foreign policy experts to strategize public-private partnerships supporting Ukraine. UBA-involved companies include Palantir Technologies, Microsoft, and Amazon.
“We are committed to ensuring that those working to uphold the rule of law & defending Ukraine as a nation state have the software they need for as long as it takes,” Karp told the McCain Institute earlier this year.https://t.co/Ol9DBVuRxw
Palantir Technologies is a Founding Member of the McCain Institute's Ukraine Business Alliance. Yesterday, the Alliance held its first meeting with Andriy Kostin, Ukraine's Prosecutor General, to discuss how leading #tech companies…https://t.co/R031PMMrk4https://t.co/b0trwV2UMV
Even after escaping the turmoil of the Obama administration, Farkas appeared eager to jump back into the fray against Russia. Farkas was one of the first to promulgate the Russiagate conspiracy that former President Donald Trump colluded with Russia to fix the 2016 election, and called for an investigation into the president.
“[T]he Trump folks, if they found out how we knew what we knew about their, the staff, the Trump staff’s dealing with Russians, that they would try to compromise those sources and methods, meaning we would no longer have access to that intelligence. So I became very worried, because not enough was coming out into the open, and I knew that there was more,” said Farkas in an MSNBC interview.
Yet, behind closed doors about a month later, Farkas admitted to the House Intelligence Committee that she “didn’t know” whether anyone within the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. She further admitted that her media tour remarks were based on “a strong suspicion” cultivated from other media reports and reporters calling her. Farkas’ testimony, along with others collected by the committee, weren’t released for about three years.
“So I was making a leap that if, indeed, there was collusion, the way we would’ve uncovered it probably would have involved classified means,” said Farkas. “[I know] nothing outside of what’s been reported by the press.”
Farkas also admitted, contrary to her widespread public remarks, that she had no proof that Russians were interfering in elections aside from propaganda, or that Russians were colluding with the Trump campaign. She concurred with the following statement offered by Gowdy:
“I have no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded, conspired, or coordinated with the Russians,” read the statement.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
