The Arizona State Press

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Gabriella Fernbaugh:

Is there anything worse than being on a losing streak?

Tyler Abrams:

Maybe being on a losing streak and losing millions of dollars.

Gabriella Fernbaugh:

I'm Gabriella Fernbaugh.

Tyler Abrams:

And I'm Tyler Abrams. And this is State Press Play.

Gabriella Fernbaugh:

Also on this weeks episode, Dennis Prager and Charlie Kirk return to campus after months of controversy.

Tyler Abrams:

But first...

Gabriella Fernbaugh:

Earlier this week, hate symbols were spray painted outside the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at ASU. I'm here with State Press Executive Editor Angelina Steel who reported on what went down. Hi Angelina.

Angelina Steel:

Hi.

Gabriella Fernbaugh:

So what happened exactly?

Angelina Steel:

So, I will try to explain it as best as I can. In front of the Cronkite school in the morning, two antisemitic symbols were vandalized on the building and a sign across the walkway, and the name, I apologize if I say this wrong, Dmytro Kozatskyi. We did some research into what that name meant and who he was and why his name was vandalized next to, you know, such a hateful sign. So we looked into it. And it turns out that he is a photographer who's a part of this exhibit that Cronkite is doing. The exhibit is meant to display photos from the Ukrainian war from the frontlines, and he's a photographer on display. And he also has a long history of posting Nazi rhetoric on his Twitter. Examples include a pizza that he made that has a swastika on it. Another example is he wears a lot of antisemitic shirts with like antisemitic jargon and phrases on them. And things like that. There are dozens of tweets that you can find of his archived on the internet. So that's what happened.

Gabriella Fernbaugh:

How did you find all of this information so quickly?

Angelina Steel:

Um, honestly, I didn't do a whole lot of research like, there were like 10 people. I was in Cronkite News when we found this out and a girl on staff named Emily, she's a reporter, she reached out and got some statements for me. And there were a lot of people like looking on Twitter and like gathering research like it came from all over the newsroom. So it was really a collective effort.

To hear more from Steel, please tune in to State Press Play.

Tyler Abrams:

The Health, Wealth and Happiness event premiered for the second time at the ASU campus since the now defunct TW Lewis Center for Professional Development pulled funding that was going to ASU is programs. Dennis Prager and Charlie Kirk were in attendance and spoke about their criticisms against Barrett faculty and President Michael Crow's direction for the school. I'm here with State Press reporter Sam McGee, whom attended the event. Hi, thanks for coming on the podcast Sam.

Sam McGee:

Lovely to be here.

Tyler Abrams:

So Sam, you had the opportunity to go to the Health, Wealth and Happiness 2.0 event. Just tell me about who was there and what was the general atmosphere that was surrounding the event.

Sam McGee:

So I spoke to many students as well as parents and some older folks who were there, most of whom were in support. However, there were a couple who disagreed with the speakers from both sides of the spectrum. Actually, there were a couple of protesters outside the event, as well as a white nationalist who got up and spoke during the Q&A portion of this event. For the most part, however, the events atmosphere was pretty calm and supportive of the speakers. The speakers were at Ann Atkinson, Austin Smith, Tom Lewis and Dennis Prager and Charlie Kirk.

Tyler Abrams:

How did this event coincide in the aftermath of the TW Lewis Center pulling funding from ASU?

Sam McGee:

So this event was the second iteration, I guess, of Health, Wealth and Happiness. The first one resulted in some protests from the faculty of Barrett, who were protesting just Barrett attaching its name to the events. Tom Lewis spoke about that and he didn't like that. So, he pulled funding from ASU as a result and he said at the event that he hoped that this would result in the "Michael Crows of the world changing their tune and stopping the backing of faculty over the students."

To hear more from Steel, please tune in to State Press Play.

Gabriella Fernbaugh:

ASU football has been on a losing streak this season. Speaking of losing, a lawsuit related to the Pac-12 might lose ASU millions of dollars. I'm here with State Press senior reporter, Alex Wakefield. Hi, Alex.

Alex Wakefield:

Hi. Thanks for having me.

Gabriella Fernbaugh:

Last time you were on State Press Play, you explained ASU's decision to leave the Pac-12 for the Big 12. Now, there's some serious legal fallout. Could you explain what's exactly going on?

Alex Wakefield:

Yeah, and I'll do my best because a lot of it's a little complex. But essentially, like we talked about earlier this semester, 10 of the 12 teams that made up the Pac-12 for the last four or so decades, are all leaving at the end of the season, and the two that are remaining, often considered bottom-feeders of the conference, Washington State and Oregon State, they are suing the conference itself, as well as its Commissioner George Kliavkoff for control over the assets of the conference. So that's the Pac-12 network, which some people say can be worth around $250 million.

Gabriella Fernbaugh:

So essentially, because Washington State and Oregon are still in the Pac-12, they're arguing that because these other schools have left, that they should not have any say as to what happens within the Pac-12?

Alex Wakefield:

Yeah, so kind of the legal side of it is that the bylaws of the conference, which all 12 teams agreed to, say that if a team gives a notice of withdrawal that they are announcing to move to another conference, then they no longer have a voting presence on the board which decides things like where assets go. And so Washington State and Oregon State are arguing that because those 10 teams, including ASU, have left, have told people via social media and transition meetings with new conferences and new conference members, that indicates a notice of withdrawal, meaning that Oregon State and Washington State, they believe, should be the only voting members of the board which means they have full control over where the money gets spent.

To hear more from Steel, please tune in to State Press Play.

Gabriella Fernbaugh:

We have one more piece of news for this week. President Biden was at Tempe Center for the Arts yesterday to announce plans for a new library in honor of former Senator John McCain. John McCain served in the US Navy during the Vietnam War. He was held in captivity where he endured torture and years of solitary confinement. When he finally returned in 1973 he was hailed as a war hero. In 1982 he was elected as an Arizona representative and after he ran for president in the 2000 presidential election. His widow Cindy McCain spoke briefly before the president.

Cindy McCain:

It has taken five long years since John's death to have the honor of standing here before you with the proud knowledge of what now stands before all of us…This future library will provide the beating heart and soul to help further the causes. John so dearly believed in.

To hear more from Fernbaugh, McCain and President Biden, please tune in to State Press Play.

Gabriella Fernbaugh:

And that’s all for this week’s State Press Play. I’m Gabriella Fernbaugh.

Tyler Abrams:

And I’m Tyler Abrams. You can follow State Press on X and Instagram @statepress.

Gabriella Fernbaugh:

State Press Play is produced and mixed by the State Press podcast editor Amber Victoria Singer. Our original music is by Jake Leroux and Ellie Willard.

Tyler Abrams:

Special thanks to our managing team Alexis Heichman and Reece Andrews.

Gabriella Fernbaugh:

You can check out all these stories and more on statepress.com. See you next week, Devils.

State Press Play: Antisemitic graffiti found on ASU's campus

Join hosts Gabriella Fernbaugh and Tyler Abrams as they break down the Pac-12 lawsuit, Kirk and Prager returning to campus and hateful graffiti painted on ASU's Downtown Phoenix campus in the third season of "State Press Play." This episode also features information regarding the new McCain National Library. New episodes every Friday.

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