A new diversity and equality policy in California’s community colleges, according to Bill Blanken, a chemistry professor at Reedley College, amounts to a “loyalty oath” and “compelled speech” that violates academic freedom and free expression.
Blanken is contesting new diversity policies at California Community Colleges that alter employee evaluation procedures, along with five other tenured teachers in the State Centre Community College District. The plaintiffs in the August complaint are described as opponents of DEIA (diversity, equality, inclusion, and accessibility) and anti-racism policies who fear that taking these positions will lead to poor performance reviews or maybe termination.
“Legal protection is necessary,” Blanken stated on October 12 during an interview with EdSource.
The California Community College Board of Governors enacted new rules last year that mandate local districts assess staff members, including academics, based on their ability to collaborate with a diverse student body. Last month, local districts were obligated to comply.
Blanken disagrees with the DEIA policy’s premise that racism is pervasive in academic fields like chemistry, math, and physics as well as in institutions like California’s community colleges. He contends that gender and ethnicity should not be factors in the way these subjects are taught. That is the main argument made by the six plaintiffs in their complaint.
The lawsuit, which was brought by the free speech advocacy group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), names Sonya Christian, the chancellor of California Community College, the board of governors of the California Community Colleges, and the governing board of State Centre Community College District.
A parallel lawsuit was filed in June on behalf of Daymon Johnson, a history professor at Bakersfield College, and it is directed at the board of directors and chancellor of the Kern Community College District.
One of the first districts in the state to incorporate these new diversity criteria into its most recent faculty contract (PDF) is the State Centre Community College District, which serves the towns of Fresno and the surrounding central San Joaquin Valley. In a statement, the district stated that it will stand by its application of the DEIA laws set forth by the state and its cooperative efforts with the State Centre Federation of Teachers.
State Centre Community College District spokesman Jill Wagner stated, “The District now and forever will be a welcoming place for a diverse population, with a commitment to access and inclusion.” “DEIA initiatives will remain at the forefront of efforts to address them as this issue continues to evolve, as they have sparked many important conversations over decades.”
In order to improve “equitable student outcomes and course completion,” the district’s new evaluation process mandates that instructional faculty members exhibit “teaching and learning practices that reflect DEIA and anti-racist principles” in addition to submitting a written self-evaluation on their “understanding” of DEIA competencies and “anti-racist principles.”
It is still unclear how these ideas will be applied in the upcoming review rounds. Blanken stated that his department has not provided him with any instructions. The district and academic senate have not yet developed uniform training guidelines for evaluations, according to a September memo from State Center’s human resources department. In the interim, “evaluatees should, in good faith, review the language in the contract and do their best to speak to how they have demonstrated or shown progress.”
When free expression is at stake, Daniel Ortner, the FIRE attorney defending the State Centre professors, declared, “That’s not good enough.”
Broad, ambiguous rules, according to Ortner, may have a “chilling effect” on classroom discourse. The California Community College Curriculum Committee (PDF) published a framework that has alarmed plaintiffs in particular because it cautions teachers against “‘weaponizing’ academic freedom and academic integrity in an academic discipline or inflicting curricular trauma” on historically marginalised students.
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs altered their course curriculum for this semester in response to the new DEIA regulations. Professor of English at Madera Community College Loren Palsgaard declared that he will no longer assign books that contain racist epithets, such as the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” written by Martin Luther King Jr. and pieces by Flannery O’Connor and William Faulkner.
The assertion that the DEIA policies forbid professors from using these texts is refuted in a response filed on October 2 by California Attorney General Rob Bonta on behalf of the chancellor and the board of governors. He further states that the framework is non-binding and serves only as a guide for college districts developing their own DEIA policies.
A representative for the state Chancellor’s Office, Melissa Villarin, stated that the guidelines “expresses competencies the Chancellor’s Office endorses, but does not require.” District personnel are not subject to fines under the restrictions. Their purpose is to enhance the professional growth of the employees.
The dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, Erwin Chemerinsky, stated that it is perfectly legal for a college to mandate that instructors be considerate of their varied student body in addition to setting the course material. Nonetheless, he continued, schools cannot mandate that instructors teach only certain points of view.
In an email to EdSource, Chemerinsky stated, “The question is whether this is more the former than the latter.” He also stated that he thought the government had a compelling case that
Chemerisky said, “It is difficult to say on this record that the First Amendment has been violated.” “Things would be different if a teacher presented a challenge and was in charge of discipline.” No one who filed the lawsuits has received any sort of punishment.
Daymon Johnson, a lecturer at Bakersfield College, is the target of a second lawsuit brought by the Institute for Free Speech, which alleges that Garrett was fired for opposing DEIA policies. There were no new DEIA policies that affected Garrett’s faculty assessments. Nonetheless, Johnson’s lawsuit alleges that he fears losing his job as well because he and Garrett have many similar conservative beliefs and anti-DEIA positions.
In a statement, the Kern Community College District maintained that Garrett’s termination had nothing to do with his views on DEIA or other matters pertaining to free expression.
According to district spokesman Norma Rojas, “Matthew Garrett was terminated after a lengthy and detailed examination of his disciplinary violations at Bakersfield College.”
The plaintiffs in both cases have requested a preliminary injunction from the court to stop the implementation of the faculty contract for the State Centre Community College District and the DEIA policy for the California Community Colleges. There is presently no scheduled hearing date for the request, which is still ongoing in federal court.
Although Ortner said he is keeping a watch on the situation around the state, he is not aware of any other lawsuits from California’s 116 community colleges that are directed at the new DEIA standards.
Numerous universities offer anti-discrimination measures, like mentorship and tutoring, that help students feel at home. There are numerous things you can do that won’t interfere with your right to free expression, according to Ortner. “Colleges in California are significantly more proactive and forceful in their advocacy for
