Any faculty in the coming years who don’t operate inside this framework will not be hired or given tenure - and if we already have tenure, we can be suspended or fired. The architects of these regulations are not offering DEIA as an ideology to be studied, analyzed, and discussed under the light of reason. That’s why five of my community college colleagues and I are suing to halt these statewide regulations that threaten academic freedom and open inquiry, with the help of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. I kept my job despite my response, but when I am evaluated again in a few years my perspective will likely be unacceptable under the new DEIA requirements.
These academic values, I argued, need to be modeled to our students. I voiced my deeply held beliefs about the value of charity and open inquiry. I’d even hesitate to use Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in class because there is no longer a distinction made between the use and the mention of racial slurs.ĭuring my last performance evaluation, I was asked about my commitment to DEIA principles. It’s not difficult to imagine what may happen if I continue to assign authors with dissenting viewpoints in my class, or have my students watch and discuss debates on controversial questions such as whether the death penalty needs to be abolished because the criminal justice system is systemically racist. What could be better for a democratic society than students learning critical thinking, open inquiry, and engagement with dissenting viewpoints? The point was to expose students to ideas that they might not otherwise have encountered. But I never offered up texts as though they were unassailable or sacrosanct. Some of the assignments I’ve given can be provocative or controversial. Whether we read essays on reparations or affirmative action, the readings I chose always gave two or three different positions. Whether it was Intro to Literature, freshman composition, or critical thinking classes, my method has always been the same: Introduce a text, then attempt to get students to question it, see if the argument works, and ask how it can deepen our understanding of the issue. In my 25 years of teaching English, I’ve tried to impart upon my students that conjecture and refutation are critical to discovering knowledge. A Madera Community College professor is one of six Fresno-area community college professors suing over new teaching standards dealing with diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.
The Class of 2023 broke another record for Fresno City College: 2,687 students were eligible to participate in the graduation ceremony.
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