Largest ASU Class Ever

ASU Welcomes Its Largest Class of Sun Devils To-Date 

Good morning, Sun Devils! 

Last week, ASU welcomed the class of 2030 to campus, bringing the current student population to over 200,000. Nearly 120,000 of these students are taking classes via ASU Online, and the remaining are in-person learners, making ASU one of the largest universities by in-person enrollment in the United States.

We often imagine students’ interactions with higher education in static terms: Our minds’ eye pictures most students attending a four-year institution in person, at a brick-and-mortar campus, replete with pine trees and grass lawns. We also presume that these students are coming straight out of high school. ASU shows how mistaken that picture is. Many ASU students, particularly those taking online courses, are upskilling after already working for at least a few years—and many of them attend classes virtually. (While we don’t have pine trees in Tempe or Downtown, we do have palm trees—so perhaps at least that part of our mental model remains intact.)

These realities complicate how higher ed reformers understand our mission, and ourselves. Yes, the culture wars matter, and we need to exert energy to support on-campus students’ rights to self-expression, professors’ rights to articulate controversial opinions, and the university’s right (indeed, its obligation) to maintain an academically rigorous set of course offerings. But this will not be accomplished the same way in Cambridge or New Haven as it will in Tempe. 

We will need to imagine new strategies that account for online learners’ experience without neglecting in-person students. We will need to uphold academic rigor for online students, who are taking courses that are all too easy to ace without having learned much of anything. We will need to work with the administration—one far less insular and full of itself than the Ivy League; one far more open to the democratic promise of a college education than the Ivy League—when possible, to protect free expression, academic freedom, and academic excellence.

We are thinking through these problems just like you. As always, we welcome your feedback.

News

• Education Secretary calls on universities to publicly commit to higher education reform: U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon issued a national call to action asking university presidents and governing boards to publicly outline how their institutions will strengthen higher education and rebuild public trust. McMahon specifically asked universities how they will protect free speech and open inquiry, encourage intellectual pluralism, maintain academic rigor in the age of AI, improve affordability and student outcomes, and safeguard research integrity. She called on every postsecondary institution to publish its commitments before the end of 2026.
  
  

• Dining hall workers' union sues ASU, alleging First Amendment violations: UNITE HERE Local 11, which represents ASU dining hall workers, filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the university violated union members' First Amendment rights by restricting their ability to protest on campus. The complaint follows the May arrests of two union organizers outside ASU's undergraduate commencement and argues that the university's restrictions went beyond permissible time, place, and manner rules. ASU declined to comment on the pending litigation but said it supports free expression in public outdoor spaces and does not regulate speech based on its subject, content, or viewpoint.
  
  

• ASU Law welcomes five new faculty members, including a new First Amendment advocate: The Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law welcomed five new faculty members for the 2026–27 academic year, bringing expertise in areas including emerging technologies, federal Indian law, civil procedure, legal research and First Amendment advocacy. Among the new additions is Martha Lemar, who joins ASU Law as an assistant teaching professor in its First Amendment Clinic. Lemar says she is particularly interested in evolving legal questions surrounding free speech on college campuses and looks forward to working with students on First Amendment advocacy.

Updates

• Get involved as a member: If you’re interested in learning more about ASU Alumni for Free Speech, become a member today. It’s as simple as filling out this form. Membership is free and gives you access to an exclusive set of benefits, such as access to our monthly newsletter, invitations to exclusive alumni events, and regular virtual and in-person membership meetings.
  
  

• Get involved as a donor: If you are in a position to give—or know someone who might be in a position to give—please contact us at asualumniforfreespeech@gmail.com. Donations are tax-deductible and should be addressed to the 1912 Institute (with whom we have a partnership). Some additional links that may be helpful:

  • ASU AFS Donor Tiers

  • ASU AFS One-Pager

  • Business plan available upon request

As a reminder, ASU AFS’s core principles

• Academic freedom: Faculty and academics require academic freedom, within appropriate bounds, to expand our shared knowledge.

• Free speech on campus: Students deserve to have their voices heard on campus – so that they can better learn how to be citizens.

• Academic excellence: Students should be held to a high standard of excellence, rejecting mediocrity.

Happy almost-end-of-summer,

Joe