North Pima News

Ann Atkinson, the former director of the Lewis Center at Arizona State University Barrett Honors College, shared on Twitter the news of Linda Blake's termination from Arizona State University Gammage. 

In response to her termination, Blake sent a letter to Executive Director Arnold of the Arizona Board of Regents, claiming that it was wrongful and driven by false accusations.

The tweet stated: "Lin Blake just released her letter to the AZ Board of Regents. She was fired after facing religious discrimination, retaliation, and workplace hostility resulting from the ASU Barrett faculty’s libelous claims that @DennisPrager @charliekirk11 @theRealKiyosak were white nationalist bigots."

Blake stated that she adhered to standard procedures when booking events at ASU Gamma and consistently received commendations for her job performance. However, in the weeks preceding her termination, she experienced discrimination and harassment. 

The controversy arose among Blake and her colleagues due to events organized by her client, Ann Atkinson, which were allegedly subjected to religious discrimination and involved claims of featuring "white supremacist" speakers, according to Blake's letter.

One of the events, organized by Atkinson and the Lewis Center, took place at Arizona State University Barrett Honors College in February. Following the event, a letter was sent by dozens of Barrett faculty members to the dean of the honors college expressing their disapproval. 

The event featured speakers Charlie Kirk and Dennis Prager, known for their conservative viewpoints. Subsequently, Atkinson also faced termination from her job. 

However, the University maintains that her termination was unrelated to freedom of speech or the event, but rather a consequence of the Lewis Center's cancellation of funds, 12 News reports.

Last month, Atkinson participated in a discussion on the Breaking Battlegrounds podcast, where the hosts, Sam Stone, Chief of Staff for Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio, and Chuck Warren, Managing Director of September Group, explored the situation and controversy concerning the University and her termination from her job, according to Breaking Battlegrounds.

"And then finally, a big part of the story is that the Honors College participated and the attempts to suppress this free speech, even despite ASU, used very strong policies on free speech," said Atkinson during the episode. 

"So they took down our marketing. They tried to limit what the speakers were allowed to say. They wanted me to read a warning statement to the audience at my open during my opening remarks, and that that is directly in congruence with the robust free speech policies that ASU should be providing to all of those in its community."

"@linblake1969 and @Ann_Atkinson_AZ are heroes speaking out against the lack of urgency to protect the first amendment rights of ASU staff and students," said Arizona Rep. Austin Smith in a Tweet. "I encourage more staff to come forward to the legislature who’ve experienced similar situations."