Stock Image
A national non-profit think tank’s relationship with Amarillo College has taken center stage in the Amarillo College Board of Regents election, with less than two weeks to go before voters decide this race.
With two incumbents seeking re-election this year and four challengers hoping to claim a seat on the Board of Regents, the school’s relationship with the Aspen Institute has become a central issue in the campaign. Challengers have charged that the organization, which has presented AC with several awards in recent years, has been pushing a woke, anti-Christian philosophy that runs contrary to the values of the Texas Panhandle.
Jason Foglesong, a conservative high school teacher who is running for an open seat on the Board of Regents, highlighted this very topic in a recent commercial, criticizing AC for its relationship with the Aspen Institute.
“Amarillo College has embraced the policies and philosophies of the Aspen Institute, which openly pushes a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion agenda, better known as ‘wokeism,’” Foglesong says in a commercial, as a photo of Defund the Police protesters flashes on the screen. “[The Aspen Institute is] an institution that declares free speech and conservative Christian values — Amarillo values — dangerous.”
Foglesong’s comments reference an article published by the Aspen Institute in 2022, which blamed the U.S. Capitol riot on religion.
“Religious rhetoric encouraged and justified the attack,” the article reads, while specifically pointing out “Christian nationalism” as being particularly dangerous.
This topic has also come up from Irene Hughes, another challenger who is seeking a seat on the Board of Regents.
“Embracing the Aspen Institute is indicative of the problem [at Amarillo College],” Hughes said in a video posted by her campaign.
While the Aspen Institute issue has come up in past election cycles, it has been given a special spotlight during this election for the Amarillo College Board of Regents. This debate over the Aspen Institute comes as the organization recently named Amarillo College as one of the two best community colleges in America.
Still, despite criticism of the leftist think tank, the incumbents seeking re-election to the Board of Regents are not backing down from the school’s affiliation with the Aspen Institute. Both incumbents — Jay L. Barrett and Michele Fortunato — have posted to their campaign social media accounts recently recognizing Amarillo College’s recent award from the Aspen Institute.
Voters will decide the Amarillo College Board of Regents election on Saturday, May 6.