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Faculty, students sign letter calling event ‘dangerous’

Arizona State University hosted an event yesterday featuring attorney Mary Hasson, whose Christian beliefs and opposition to gender ideology have sparked outrage from students and faculty.

Despite over 100 individuals signing a letter to cancel the event, Hasson (pictured) still gave her lecture.

She talked about “recent efforts to dismantle families and undermine American parents” during the event titled “The Family Under Attack,” according to its description.

“An attorney and policy expert, Mary has been a keynote speaker for the Holy See during the United Nations Commission … and serves as a consultant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family, Life and Youth,” the description states.

The event coordinator, Amy Shepard, told The College Fix that ASU’s Center for American Institutions, which organized the event, aims “to renew and restore American institutions (education, civics, law, military, religion, political, healthcare, the family, etc.).”

“The speaker is a family and child expert whom our donors requested speak about the topic. We allow all our speakers to present their point of view, the luncheon attendees then ask questions of the speaker,” Shepard said.

Ahead of the event, faculty, staff, and students at the school signed a letter calling the lecture “dangerous,” Steve McGuire, a fellow with the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, reported on X.

The letter stated that free speech is a “guise…used by those who seek to marginalize and disempower identity groups such as those within the LGBTQ+ community.”

“To be clear, this is not just an ideological conversation. The lives of LGBTQ+ youth and people are literally at stake,” the letter stated.

Shepard told The Fix the Center for American Institutions “never received [the letter] so no response was made.”

In a substack post, ASU Professor Owen Anderson critiqued the double standard in free speech advocacy from his colleagues who opposed the event.

Anderson stated that Hasson has sparked controversy because she believes “minors should not be chemically castrated or have healthy body parts removed in the name of gender affirmation.”

He also wrote:

ASU faculty and students wasted no time rushing to their keyboards to denounce this shocking display of extremism. They quickly posted a letter condemning the event, acknowledging that, yes, free speech exists—but arguing that some views are so radical, so beyond the pale, that they do not deserve protection. This talk, they claim, will incite violence against the trans community at ASU…

No one at this event—or any event at ASU, for that matter—is literally putting lives at stake. But when disagreement is redefined as violence and criticism as an existential threat, the only speech left standing is the radical leftists who become the official determiners of what speech is acceptable.

Anderson stated is it Hasson “who truly cares for the trans community.” Her arguments stand on their own, backed by scientific evidence. However, “if religion does come up, she is also demonstrating care for the whole person, including their immortal soul,” Anderson wrote.

Similarly, President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center Ryan Anderson critiqued students and staff who signed the letter in a post on X.

“Why yes, @maryricehasson is ‘dangerous’—because she tells the truth even when it’s unpopular. She’s also unfailingly charitable and gracious. Oh, and ridiculously intelligent and well-read. No wonder people find her ‘dangerous.’ Thankfully such tactics no longer work,” he wrote.

MORE: Rutgers ‘minority serving’ center cancels event due to Trump’s DEI crackdown

IMAGE: Franciscan University of Steubenville/Youtube

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