ASU President Michael Crow asked Turning Point USA to take faculty off 'watchlist'

Arizona State University President Michael Crow asked Turning Point USA to remove his university's faculty from its "professor watchlist" in April after several faculty members received harassing emails and voicemails, according to a letter obtained by The Arizona Republic.

"I would like to request that you remove the ASU faculty members from the Professor Watchlist," Crow wrote. "If you will not do so, please add me to the list, as I will continue to support all of ASU’s faculty members in their right to teach, engage in scholarship, and advocate for their views without the kind of intimidation, abuse and antisemitism which is found in the enclosed attachments and which occurs when faculty are placed on your list."

"If being on the list means believing that viewpoints from across the ideological spectrum are welcome on college campuses, I would be honored to be on it," he added.

The letter, addressed to Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, came after an event titled "Health, Wealth and Happiness" ignited a campus free speech controversy. Kirk was one of several conservatives who spoke at the event, which was hosted by the T.W. Lewis Center for Personal Development and went forward in February despite protests from some students and faculty.

The free speech storm tied to the university intensified after Ann Atkinson, the former director of the center, publicly alleged that she lost her job over bringing Kirk and other conservative speakers to Tempe — a claim the university strongly denies. Later, Republican state lawmakers launched a committee to investigate the incident.

In his April letter, Crow wrote that he was pleased that Kirk was able to speak on campus and noted ASU's "commitment to free speech." But he worried that the group's "watchlist" could have a chilling effect on faculty speech. The website where the list lives describes the list as consisting of "professors who discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom."

Crow took issue with Turning Point USA listing ASU faculty when "the only basis for their inclusion appears to be that they have expressed views with which you or your colleagues disagree."

"I appreciate what the Professor Watchlist may mean to some portion of Turning Point USA’s audiences from a social media, attention-getting and fundraising perspective," Crow wrote. "But, Mr. Kirk, it simply can’t be the case that those objectives can be allowed to overshadow the principles of our democracy that are fundamental and more important to you, me and so many others."

ASU faculty remain on Turning Point USA's list. Kirk discussed Crow's letter briefly in a podcast produced by Turning Point Action, the political advocacy arm of his organization, calling it "just unbelievable."

"I just was like, 'Forget it; this is so stupid,'" Kirk said of Crow's letter on the podcast, which was released on Sept. 8. "Obviously, all of the professors were going and complaining to him."

Kirk said on the podcast, Swing State Update, that he hasn't added Crow — although Tyler Bowyer, chief operating officer of Turning Point Action and one of the show's hosts, said that he should consider doing so. Bowyer was one of 11 Arizona Republicans who falsely posed as electors in an attempt to circumvent the results of the 2020 presidential election.

In response to a request for comment from The Republic, Turning Point USA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet said ASU "has much bigger free speech problems" than the list. He noted that the list "simply gathers already publicly available quotes, comments and videos from professors, like those employed at ASU, in one searchable database."

"If ASU doesn't like us listing the outrageous things their professors say in public, then they should fire them," Kolvet said.

But Jenny Brian, faculty chair at ASU's Barrett Honors College and one of the professors included on the list, said faculty have been targeted by the organization's "misrepresentations."

"I deeply appreciate both President Crow’s defense of ASU faculty … and his efforts to protect the freedom of expression for everyone — even our critics — at our university," she said, adding that professors remain committed to "inclusive excellence and robust democratic exchange."

Faculty report harassing emails

Crow wrote in his letter to Kirk that his faculty have been "harassed, insulted, and otherwise overwhelmed with email and social media engagement by readers of Professor Watchlist."

He also included several examples of such messages.

One, dated Feb. 3, calls its recipient a "fat repulsive Marxist pig." That email also included misogynistic and profane language.

Several contained antisemitic comments.

A man who left a voicemail for an ASU professor said the school's faculty should "shut the hell up."

"We are going to cleanse the university of the communist (expletive) like you," the man said.

Kirk defended the list as "free speech" on Swing State Update.

"At the end of the day, it's telling people what these professors are doing in the classroom," he said.

During the Sept. 8 podcast, Kirk and Bowyer made disparaging comments about one ASU professor who recently spoke to the university's student newspaper, The State Press, about his opposition to Kirk and Prager coming to campus. Bowyer said that faculty members often "lose their minds" when they are added to the list.

"There's been nothing that has been more annoying to professors across America than the Professor Watchlist," Bowyer said.

State lawmaker accuses ASU of lying on podcast

A state lawmaker on the legislative committee investigating free speech at ASU also appeared on the podcast.

Rep. Austin Smith, a Republican state lawmaker from Wittmann and Turning Point Action's enterprise director, serves alongside Bowyer as a host for Swing State Update. During the Sept. 8 episode, he accused ASU officials of lying to lawmakers.

"You would be so shocked about how ASU and all of these other universities — they flat out lie," he said while describing a July committee hearing.

Smith did not respond to a request for comment from The Republic.

State lawmakers are awaiting a written investigation from ASU into Kirk's February event.

ASU's Turning Point USA chapter is preparing to welcome Kirk and conservative speaker Dennis Prager back to campus on Sept. 27, shortly after the university is expected to produce its report. Sen. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale, previously told The Republic that he intends to hold another hearing on free speech at Arizona's universities in mid-October. Kern, like Bowyer, posed as a fake Arizona elector in 2020.

"It's going to be a lot more fun, now that we know ASU is kind of on the ropes about it," Smith said on the podcast. "It's going to be a good time."

Sasha Hupka covers higher education for The Arizona Republic. Do you have a tip on Arizona's universities, community colleges or trade schools? Reach her at sasha.hupka@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @SashaHupka. Follow her on Instagram or Threads: @sashahupkasnaps.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU President Michael Crow asked Charlie Kirk to take faculty off list