by Corinne Murdock | Dec 19, 2023 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
Arizona State University’s (ASU) former information technology (IT) manager was indicted for embezzling over $124,000 from the institution over the course of over four years.
According to the auditor general, ASU leadership was partially at fault for the embezzlement.
Carlos Urrea, ASU’s former University Technology Officer (UTO) manager, allegedly embezzled the money through unauthorized personal purchases using his ASU purchase card. (The UTO is now the Enterprise Technology Office). ASU reported their findings on Urrea to the auditor general for further investigation.
In a report published last Friday, the auditor general found that Urrea used his purchase card to make over 800 personal purchases amounting to over $124,000. Urrea then attempted to conceal the purchases using over 700 forged receipts and falsified the business purpose descriptions to make them appear as if they were for valid ASU purposes.
According to the auditor general report, an ASU audit in December 2021 revealed discrepancies between Urrea’s receipts and the issuing bank’s line-item details of the purchases. Urrea reportedly refused to comply repeatedly with further auditory efforts by the university. At the time, ASU found over $95,000 of unauthorized personal purchases made by Urrea.
Upon further investigation by the auditor general, the amount Urrea allegedly embezzled grew by over $28,000.
Among those unauthorized purchases were gift cards, including $11,000 in Costco Shop cards; electronics and accessories, including 10 smart watches; household items and furniture, including two Christmas trees; appliances, including a washer and dryer; gaming products, including 12 gaming consoles; fitness and recreation items, including a treadmill and a rowing machine; and warranties.
The auditor general reported that Urrea admitted to using the ASU purchase card for personal purchases. Urrea told the auditor general team that he used ASU’s Adobe Acrobat Editor software to alter his personal purchase receipts in PDF format.
Urrea also reportedly called his actions “very dumb,” and characterized the purchases as his means of providing for his family.
According to the State Press salary database for ASU, Urrea made $45,000 in 2016, $75,000 in 2017, $77,250 in 2018, $92,700 in 2019, $100,116 in 2020, and $106,000 in 2021.
According to the auditor general, ASU revealed that its executive administration officials allowed Urrea to bypass appropriate university policies and procedures for purchase cards so that Urrea could either provide immediate IT-related equipment or maintain his support for senior leadership. As a result, Urrea was exempted from engaging in the procurement process, obtaining prior purchase approval, submitting detailed business purpose descriptions for purchases, submitting receipts on time, and bypassing restricted spending protocols when receipts were submitted late.
“Mr. Urrea was able to make and conceal his personal p-card purchases because management allowed him to: use his p-card instead of procurement process on the pretext of providing immediate support to senior leadership, make p-card purchases without seeking prior approval, submit vague business purposes, [and] submit p-card receipts 2-3 months late without restricting his p-card spending to $1 in accordance with policy,” stated the report.
The auditor general noted that ASU modified its purchase card policy by requiring executive administration adherence where possible, or requiring the business team — not individuals — to make purchases where not possible.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office passed on the auditor general’s findings to the Maricopa County Superior Court Grand Jury. The latter indicted Urrea on 14 felony counts of theft, misuse of public monies, fraudulent schemes, and forgery.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Sepi Homayoun | Dec 7, 2023 | Opinion
By Sepi Homayoun |
I was born and raised in Iran and experienced the upheaval of the Revolution firsthand, escaping with my family at the age of 12. Having witnessed the atrocities of conflict in the Middle East, the events of October 7th are particularly chilling. The current rise of antisemitism, echoing dark moments from history, is a terrifying time for our Jewish brothers and sisters worldwide.
I arrived in the United States during a period when Iranians faced a ban, making it challenging to secure status in this country. While some perceived it as discrimination, my family viewed it as our responsibility to demonstrate our commitment to the chosen country of migration. America exercised caution while vetting migrants from the Middle East, which given the geopolitical context, made sense to me. As a 14-year-old Muslim kid, I keenly observed the freedoms extended to me as a newcomer. I was given ample opportunities to succeed, experiencing minimal discrimination at school. Many reached out to assist our family in integrating into our new society, fostering a deep appreciation for this country and its citizens. I recognized that the same nation that imposed restrictions on Iranians also provided every opportunity for us to thrive.
It goes without saying that religious discrimination or violence of any kind is reprehensible. Recently, I spoke to the attendees at a local Jewish Temple regarding the alarming antisemitism crisis on our college campuses and the depth of their fear. The stories shared were deeply unsettling, evoking a sense of shock that transported me back to age 14 again.
Regardless of political affiliation, we can all agree that every child deserves to feel safe at school, including our Jewish children. Sadly, a Chandler School Board Member, Patti Serrano, does not appear to feel that same way. Serrano’s sponsorship of an event at ASU featuring Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-12) raises concerns about her judgment as a non-partisan school board member. Tlaib, a member of Congress recently censured for her antisemitic rallying cry, was invited to ASU, adding fuel to the fire of antisemitism prevalent on many campuses. This was on the heels of Jewish students at ASU having to be escorted back to their residence by campus police due to death threats and rock throwing at an ASU student government meeting. How can our Jewish children feel safe at school knowing there is an elected official in charge of their schools that is willing to take such a clear stance against them? Serrano is undoubtedly allowed to exercise her First Amendment rights and speak her mind. However, in her capacity as a non-partisan school board member representing all children, not just non-Jewish children, is it wise?
While politics can be messy, it’s crucial not to stand by in silence. We, as a community in Chandler, must stand in solidarity with our Jewish community members. Calling for accountability, urging Patti Serrano’s resignation, and actively supporting the safety of ALL children in our schools are essential steps. Let us use our voices and get involved to ensure EVERY child, regardless of their background, feels secure at school.
Sepi Homayoun is a resident of Chandler and a concerned citizen and mother.
by Corinne Murdock | Dec 4, 2023 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
Two Turning Point USA (TPUSA) journalists have been charged with harassment and assault in an altercation involving an Arizona State University (ASU) professor.
Last month, reporters Kalen D’Almeida and Braden Ellis attempted to ask questions of ASU professor and Drag Queen Story Hour co-founder David Boyles. In response to questioning from D’Almeida and filming from Ellis, surveillance footage shows Boyles lunge and grab at Ellis before D’Almeida pushes Boyles away. Boyles falls from the shove.
D’Almeida questioned Boyles about his involvement in sexual education and drag shows for minors, his writings, and whether he harbors attractions to minors. Boyles refused to answer D’Almeida’s questions.
D’Almeida and Ellis each face a charge of harassment, a class one misdemeanor carrying a prison sentence of up to six months and fines up to $2,500 (A.R.S. §§ 13-2921, 13-707, and 13-802). D’Almeida also faces additional charges of assault (A.R.S. § 13-1203 (A)(1) and (B)) and disorderly conduct (A.R.S. § 13-2904) both class two misdemeanors carrying a prison sentence of up to four months and fines up to $750.
Immediately after the incident last month, ASU President Michael Crow sided with Boyles in a public statement. Crow likened the TPUSA journalists to “bullies.” Crow also claimed that D’Almeida and Ellis “ran away” from the scene before police arrived, but surveillance footage shows the pair, along with Boyles, walk together in the same direction off camera after the altercation.
In a Facebook post, Boyles called D’Almeida and Ellis “right-wing fascists” and “terrorists,” echoing Crow’s claim that the pair “ran off” after the incident. Boyles said that he only moved to block the camera before D’Almeida pushed him.
“And the first thing we can do to stop it is to stop coddling these f*****g terrorists,” said Boyles. “These people should be shunned from society.”
ASU police confirmed they’re investigating D’Almeida and Ellis to determine whether the altercation was motivated by bias or prejudice.
In a statement responding to the charges against D’Almeida and Ellis, TPUSA spokesman Andrew Kolvet declared that neither man committed any wrongdoing.
“Kalen and his cameraman did absolutely nothing wrong,” said Kolvet. “We will vigorously defend them and look forward to taking this matter into a courtroom where the very clear video evidence documenting what actually happened will quickly prevail over ASU’s gaslighting and the media’s propaganda. Our team members will be vindicated.”
TPUSA CEO Charlie Kirk issued a statement of his own, in which he accused ASU of retaliation over their organization’s campaign to pull taxpayer funding from ASU.
“Our two @TPUSA journalists are expected to be charged and arrested for defending themselves against an aggressive weirdo professor at ASU who physically attacked them,” said Kirk. “ASU is retaliating against TPUSA because we’re rallying support to pull taxpayer $ from their institution.”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Nov 28, 2023 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
Two Arizona State University (ASU) professors are demanding an end to free speech rhetoric, as it tends to align with right-wing political agendas and undermine experts.
Just over a week ago, professors Richard Amesbury and Catherine O’Donnell wrote an opinion piece for The Chronicle of Higher Education: “Dear Administrators, Enough With the Free Speech Rhetoric!: It concedes too much with right-wing agendas.” The pair argued that a greater focus on freedom of speech, or intellectual diversity, would ultimately undermine the true purpose of higher education, which they claimed was imparting the minds of experts, or “academic expertise.”
“Our contention is that calls for greater freedom of speech on campuses, however well-intentioned, risk undermining colleges’ central purpose, namely, the production of expert knowledge and understanding, in the sense of disciplinarily warranted opinion,” said Amesbury and O’Donnell. “A diversity of opinion — ‘intellectual diversity’ — isn’t itself the goal; rather, it is of value only insofar as it serves the goal of producing knowledge. On most unanswered questions, there is, at least initially, a range of plausible opinions, but answering questions requires the vetting of opinions.”
Amesbury teaches and serves as the director for the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (SHPRS). He joined ASU in 2019. Prior to ASU, Amesbury chaired Theological Ethics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and chaired the Philosophy and Religion Department at Clemson University.
O’Donnell also teaches for the SHPRS, as well as the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Lincoln Center Applied Ethics, Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict, and SST American Studies.
In their article, the professors wrote that academia is restrained by “intellectual responsibilities,” and that the social costs of unfettered free speech were too great to merit entertainment. They argued that academia has a fiduciary responsibility to the public and therefore must vet speech, dismissing the notion that the marketplace of ideas converges on truth.
“[C]olleges are under no obligation to balance warranted, credible, true opinions with unwarranted, discredited, false ones,” stated the professor. “Only by disavowing pretensions to be the public sphere can colleges perform their critical role in relation to it.”
Amesbury and O’Donnell then argued that free speech deprived faculty of academic freedom and deprived the public of the faculty’s “regime of expertise.” They lamented that experts “enjoy no special public esteem,” and that the scholarly expertise has come to be viewed as further opinion equivalent to a “flattened-out theory of knowledge.”
“When free speech drowns out expert speech, we all suffer,” said the pair. “‘Free speech’ is what we are left with when we recognize no experts.”
Ultimately, the pair said that free speech arguments weren’t about truth-seeking but a guise for the lucrative fulfillment of particular, unscholarly, and inexpert interests. As examples, Amesbury and O’Donnell cited the University of Tennessee’s Institute of American Civics, the University of Florida’s Hamilton Center, and the University of Texas at Austin’s Civitas Institute.
“[T]he institutions themselves are peopled by faculty who serve on each other’s boards, invite and re-invite each other to give talks, appeal to the same funders, and even publish in each other’s journals and book series,” stated the professors. “[A]lthough such efforts are frequently portrayed as making colleges democratically accountable to the wishes of the public and their elected representatives, the logic of intellectual diversity arguments is toward ever greater mistrust between colleges and the public they serve.”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Nov 19, 2023 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
Despite its name and alleged purpose, Arizona State University’s (ASU) The Integrity Project (TIP) appears to fall short on achieving honesty and transparency.
AZ Free News discovered that TIP was formerly a nonprofit established in the first year of former Donald Trump’s administration with the primary purpose of undermining the former president. Yet today, TIP describes itself as an “apolitical” nonprofit aimed at combating misinformation, with its core values rooted in transparency, impartiality, and honesty.
“Our mission and our work are intended to be transparent to the public,” states TIP. “Malicious actors are undermining the stability of democracies, communities, families, and even friendships. We will fight back with the truth.”
Yet, TIP’s hidden past raises questions of transparency and intent for the ASU partner.
“The Integrity Project was created due to a frustration with the politicization of the truth. What was once the foundation that unified our democracy, the facts themselves had become the very thing that could collapse our society,” reads the TIP members and partners page. “All of our founders and members set aside their personal beliefs in order to serve something bigger than themselves. Misinformation has eroded the foundation of our democracy, with manipulated facts becoming the catalyst for mistrust and division that has our society on the road to ruin. The purpose of The Integrity Project is to restore the legitimacy of information, and nothing more.”
Initially, the nonprofit branded itself online as “Lead Not Greed” after September 2017, when its X (formerly Twitter) page launched. In the following months, it rebranded as the “Campaign for Accountability and Transparency,” and then “Make Integrity Great Again” (MIGA). Several websites were presented on the X profile at some points: “holddjtaccountable.org,” and then “makeintegritygreatagain.org.”
As of this publication, the MIGA url still redirects to TIP’s website.
In June 2018, MIGA filed a widely-reported complaint attempting to revoke the liquor license for the Trump International Hotel on the basis that Trump allegedly lacked good character. The District of Columbia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board dismissed the request several months later.
“Donald Trump needs to choose: he can either be the president, or he can be a businessman, but he can’t be both. Lead Not Greed is fighting back by finally hitting Trump where it hurts — in the pocketbook,” stated the organization.
The lawyer that filed suit on behalf of MIGA was Joshua Levy: partner at Levy Firestone, former counsel for the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs as well as Sen. Chuck Schumer.
Around the middle of 2022, the MIGA website transitioned to TIP and existing social media slates were wiped clean. None of these changes were disclosed on TIP’s website or social media pages as of press time. In fact, prior posts by its past versions were wiped entirely.
MIGA was established by Jerome “Jerry” Hirsch, a self-identified Republican, founder and longtime chairman of the Lodestar Foundation in Phoenix. Hirsch’s foundation has projects including ASU’s Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation, a partnership between ASU and the Kellogg Foundation, as well as an active partner in TIP; the Collaboration Prize, a contest recognizing the best nonprofit collaborations in the nation; and the Nonprofit Collaboration Database, an online database of more than 1,000 nonprofit collaborations, maintained in partnership with The Foundation Center.
Hirsch was also one of the 2022 participants of the globalist Sedona Forum hosted by the McCain Institute.
Ten years ago, Hirsch was credited by the ASU Foundation as one of the principal “university founders” of the modern ASU, dubbed the “New American University.” Last December, Hirsch and ASU President Michael Crow were among those who signed onto the letter to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) petitioning for citizenship rights for illegal immigrants remaining in the U.S. under the protection of the DACA program.
Unlike his MIGA endeavor, it doesn’t appear that Hirsch has spawned a similar effort to counter President Joe Biden’s foreign business dealings.
TIP’s current board of directors doesn’t include Hirsch. Current board members are:
- Mi-Ai Parrish, overseer of Arizona PBS and Media Enterprise; former president and publisher of The Arizona Republic; a friend of Biden-appointed Ninth Circuit Court Judge Roopali Desai; former market president at USA Today;
- Wellington “Duke” Reiter, special advisor to Crow with responsibilities in higher education, sustainable urbanism, and advancement of the New American University
- Barry Burden, University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor, director of the Elections Research Center, and Lyons Family Chair in Electoral Politics;
- Byron Sarhangian, attorney for Snell & Wilmer;
- Craig Krumwiede, president and CEO of Harvard Investments, founding member of Social Venture Partners Arizona (tied to Hirsch’s Lodestar Foundation);
- Joe Blackbourn, founder of Everest Holdings
Blackbourn recently took credit for founding TIP, but made no mention of its past as MIGA.
Despite MIGA’s newer presence online in 2018, with few followers and only two posts — as other users at the time pointed out — MIGA and its attempt to revoke Trump’s hotel liquor license gained the attention of other major leftist personalities such as Mindy Schwartz, Bill Prady, Jordan Uhl, Leah Greenburg, and Need to Impeach.
Although the website for MIGA said that their nonprofit was also named “Make Integrity Great Again,” the group used its former name, “Campaign for Accountability and Transparency,” as the primary identifier for all of its tax filings, dating back to the 2017 fiscal year.
MIGA’s first tax filing showed that it was created on Sept. 14, 2017. That was the day that Trump signed a resolution condemning white supremacy and hate groups following his controversial remarks on the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“You know, you have some pretty bad dudes on the other side also,” said Trump.
That first year, MIGA spent over $184,600 to create a website “to educate the public concerning the importance of addressing the character of public officials and candidates, and promote integrity as the basic tenet of American democracy.” It gave over $121,500 to a New York-based nonprofit, Purpose Campaigns (now Purpose Foundation), to undertake full operations and management of their campaign.
In 2018, MIGA spent over $153,200 on its website and over $358,000 on research for undisclosed “potential future programs” and challenges of qualifying as a nonprofit, among which it noted was the creation of the MIGA name. MIGA also spent a combined $309,000 on legal services from two Washington, D.C. law firms: Zuckerman Spader and Cunningham Levy Muse.
MIGA listed its two other officers as Lois Savage, secretary, and Sandra Horn-Goul, treasurer.
Savage and Hirsch have run the Lodestar Foundation since 1999; she was also the first executive director of a Lodestar spinoff, Social Venture Partners Arizona (of which TIP board member Krumwiede is a founder), and the initiator of the Arizona Grantmakers Forum. Savage served on former Gov. Janet Napolitano’s Interagency and Community Council on Homelessness.
Both Savage and Crow served on the 2009 Center for the Future of Arizona project “The Arizona We Want”: Crow on the steering committee, Savage as a critical reader.
Horn-Goul is the wife of the late Michael Goul, formerly ASU’s Department of Information Systems chairman and senior associate dean for faculty and research and professor of information systems.
TIP featured speakers this year have centered discussions on disinformation, misinformation about the 2022 election, media literacy and information quality, the spread of false beliefs through misinformation, and the anti-science nature of vaccine skepticism.
In addition to events, TIP has a three-year plan: a two-year research project to monitor misinformation in Arizona, publication of a media literacy curriculum through ASU’s journalism school, and increasing dissemination of their research online.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
