ASU's Center for American Institutions hosted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for a keynote address at the Arizona Biltmore Resort on March 21.
During the event, DeSantis criticized the presence of leftist ideology in higher education, and faculty members praised DeSantis and his work as governor.
Tickets for the event ranged from $250 to $1,000, with the proceeds deposited to the ASU Foundation for a New American University, according to a flyer for the event. In addition to outside community members, many students attended for free.
DeSantis touted efforts to eliminate political bias in education. The speech also emphasized his overall record in office.
"We don't believe in having these universities imposing an ideological agenda," DeSantis said. "We want them dedicated to the pursuit of truth."
DeSantis said his job, beyond signing legislation, is to ensure the political left does not control institutions like higher education.
"I believe, in this day and age of where we're at now as a country and what the left is trying to do, the pathologies that they are trying to inflict on our communities and states and country are bad," DeSantis said. "It's bad for people, safety, quality of life, economic opportunity."
DeSantis also emphasized efforts to counter the political left in K-12 schools, particularly by restricting support for transgender students. He said Florida's education system is "not going to have your kid taught that they were born in the wrong body and that they can change genders," drawing applause from the audience.
The Florida governor said he was happy to attend the event, as he appreciates what it was trying to accomplish.
"I know it's not easy," DeSantis said. "If I can help in any way to advance this reform mission, I think it's something that I want to be a part of."
Before DeSantis took the stage, Jonathan Barth, a a professor and the associate director of CAI, said the event would offer attendees hope for the state of higher education.
"We are optimistic," Barth said. "We view this fight in higher education as part of a long struggle."
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Barth said the center's mission is to bring truth back into the classroom. It is a research center focusing on open dialogue and free debate about American history and political thought.
Barth also noted that CAI produced a report on "wokeness in the military" that was read by the Department of Defense and plans to publish briefings on issues like high gas prices and socialist and communist activity in Arizona.
Donald Critchlow, the director of CAI, introduced DeSantis and highlighted that he would be doing the keynote without pay. Critchlow praised the Florida governor's COVID-19 response and legislative action.
"Boy, I wish you were our governor," Critchlow said. "Or even our University president."
Robert Ferguson, a postdoctoral scholar at CAI, said in an interview that the event came to be by accident. Critchlow ran into DeSantis a year prior and mentioned the program, he said.
The governor followed up and said he would love the opportunity to meet some of CAI's students and stakeholders, Ferguson said.
"We believe in public discourse," Ferguson said. "We believe in the opportunity of creating engaged citizens, and an aspect of creating engaged citizens is to hopefully get a chance to hear from public officials."
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CAI's mission is to educate students about civic engagement and the protection of American institutions, Ferguson said. The center is eager to host public officials from all political persuasions in the future.
"We'd love our students to hear from people from all over the country, from all over the political spectrum," Ferguson said.
In a written statement, a University spokesperson said CAI has existed since 2022.
"Arizona State University welcomes speakers from a broad range of perspectives and ideas and vigilantly protects the right to freedom of speech in our democracy, which includes sharing various points of view," the spokesperson said.
Students at the keynote address also praised DeSantis.
Connor Riley, an undergraduate student studying business, civic and economic thought and leadership, said the event was relevant to his interests in politics and law.
"I very much enjoyed everything that he talked about," Riley said. "It was a really good opportunity to be able to hear from him directly without the news getting in the way of what he's saying or taking clips of it and spinning it however they want."
He said he is grateful to both DeSantis and CAI for providing this opportunity to students.
"It's just good to know more about what's going on and seeing what's going well," Riley said. "Obviously, Florida is a great example of what's going well, especially in the civic education space."
Edited by Carsten Oyer, Henry Smardo, Sophia Braccio and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at apruiz@asu.edu and follow @andiruiz2405 on X.
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Andi Ruiz is a lead politics reporter at the State Press dedicated to serving her community with truth and honesty in her reporting. She has been working in broadcast and news since high school and was recently an anchor at The Cut Network during her first year at Cronkite. She is going into her second year at ASU as a Barrett Honors student studying journalism and mass communication.
