SE Valley Times

The former executive director of the T.W. Lewis Center for Personal Development at the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University (ASU), criticized the university for hosting an upcoming “Marxist School” while she says she was fired for hosting conservative speakers at an event earlier this year.

“At ASU, the Marxist School that teaches ‘Why Communists Today Need to Prepare for Power’ is allowed without objection,” Atkinson posted on X. “But daring to host a program on Health, Wealth, and Happiness is met with condemnation, censorship, and job loss.”

Atkinson shared a link to the International Marxist Tendency's (IMT) website, SocialistRevolution.org, which promoted the upcoming “Marxist School” event, scheduled to take place Nov. 4 and 5 at Arizona State University.  

“Join the communists for a weekend of discussions on Marxist theory and revolutionary strategy!” said the website. “The 2023 Marxist School is an in-person event series for revolutionary education, organized by Socialist Revolution,” said the website.

The group also is holding “schools” in New York City, Minneapolis, and Bellingham, Wash. Ticket prices range from $10 to $60.

Rep. Joe Chaplik (R-Scottsdale) also criticized ASU for the event, saying, “Taxpayer dollars fund ASU and they’re hosting people who want to train people to destroy our country from the inside," reported NE Valley Times.

The IMT’s website describes the organization as “one of the world's foremost sources of Marxist theory,” that organizes “in the workers’ and youth movement for the overthrow of capitalism and a socialist future for humanity!" The group’s newspaper, “In Defense of Marxism,” is edited by “Welsh Trotskyist” Alan Woods, who reportedly had ties to former Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez. 

Atkinson said she was fired from her position at ASU after the T.W. Lewis Center said it would host a “Health, Wealth and Happiness” event this past February. The event featured a number of conservative speakers, including talk show hosts Dennis Prager and Charlie Kirk, and financial author Robert Kioysaki. Atkinson said that after the speakers were announced, “39 of 47 Barrett faculty expressed outrage and sent a letter to the dean condemning the event,” reported Arizona PBS. 

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Atkinson said ASU faculty described the event speakers as “purveyors of hate” and that the university announced that funding for the  T.W. Lewis Center would not extended past June 30, thus terminating Atkinson’s position.

In response to Atkinson’s termination, State Rep. Austin Smith (R-Wittmann) on June 21 called on the Arizona Board of Regents to be responsible for investigating cases of free speech rights infringements on the campus of Arizona State University (ASU).