Community College DEI Requirements Suspended by Court

We have noted in prior posts that there is litigation concerning requiring DEI statements for hiring and promotion purposes at California community colleges.* Although that litigation does not directly involve UC, any decision regarding public community colleges is unlikely to differ if applied to UC. A court has suspended community college DEI requirements on grounds that the plaintiff is likely to succeed, according to Inside Higher Ed:

A California judge has suspended the enforcement of rules instituted by the California Community College system intended to ensure faculty and staff members uphold diversity, equity and inclusion values. The rules, which took effect in the spring, establish criteria for the evaluation of employees regarding their “demonstrated, or progress toward, proficiency in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility … competencies that enable work with diverse communities,” according to a May memo from system leaders.   

The injunction, granted Tuesday, was in response to a lawsuit against Bakersfield College and Kern Community College District leaders filed by Daymon Johnson, a history professor at the college. His suit alleged that he and other professors were penalized for espousing conservative views under the system’s mandate and discouraged from exercising their free speech rights. The lawsuit claimed the rules were unconstitutional and called for them to be suspended.

A magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California concluded that system leaders’ “aim of promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in California’s system of community colleges undoubtedly is important.” However, Johnson “has shown a likelihood of success on the merits that the regulatory scheme Defendants have put in place to advance these interests is contrary to the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech in the academic arena.” ...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2023/11/15/california-judge-suspends-community-college-dei-rules. The actual court decision is at:

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.caed.429122/gov.uscourts.caed.429122.70.0.pdf.

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*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2023/10/another-dei-higher-ed-lawsuit-in.html. See also https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2023/11/debate-program-are-dei-mandates-for.html; https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2023/08/more-on-loyalty-oaths.html; https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2023/08/uc-history-loyalty-oath.html; https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2023/09/sturm-und-drang.html.