WTF!!!! Loyalty oaths required to teach at Cal State! (and other Cal jobs)

This is from People for the American Way:

Loyalty oaths are for Nazis and Bush/Republicans NOT for Americans!!! Sign the petition at the botton of the posting.



Imagine losing your job because you took a principled stand.

Wendy Gonaver was hired to teach two courses last fall at Cal State Fullerton but was fired because she refused to sign a "loyalty oath" without being able to add a note explaining that her religious views as a Quaker and pacifist would prevent her from taking up arms.

That's not the American Way.

Ms. Gonaver was perfectly willing to sign the oath to uphold the Constitution as long as she could clarify that she wasn't committing herself to military action and that she had free speech concerns with a compelled "loyalty oath."

People For the American Way Foundation has sent a letter to Cal State on Ms. Gonaver's behalf urging the school to change its policy and allow employees who have religious or other objections to signing the "loyalty oath" to append an explanation of their views that would then allow them to sign the oath. The University of California already has such a policy in place in order to protect its employees' religious freedom and free speech rights.

Please join us by signing a petition urging Cal State to adopt a policy that doesn't violate religious liberty and freedom of speech.

We've included our suggested new policy below.

Please help us make sure Cal State does the right thing now by standing up for Wendy Gonaver's constitutional rights.

-- People For the American Way Foundation

Text of state "loyalty oath:"

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter."

Suggested new policy statement for Cal State University:

CSU recognizes that some of our employees may have religious or other objections to taking this oath. It is our policy to accommodate the religious and other beliefs of our employees by allowing an employee to append an explanatory statement to the employee's signed oath.

You can read the entire text of People For the American Way Foundation's letter here: http://media.pfaw.org/PDF/LtrtoCSF.pdf

Petition link: http://www.kintera.org/site/apps/ka/ct/contactcustom.asp?c=feIJKQMEF&b=4119631



edited to refect Cal State instead of U of Cal

The Cal State system is not the same as the University of California system.

I'll make an edit.

And thanks for the fix. : )

I had to sign this when I took a part-time student job busing tables at a campus food facility at UCLA. It's a remnant from the McCarthy era, and required of all state employees. The folks who clean the bathroom at the DMV office probably have to sign it. :eyes:

Why the hell should ANYONE -have- to sign a loyalty oath to obtain or retain employment?

Aren't we just turning ourselves in?

from a situation to take action that might have at least a small beneficial effect. No one should have to sign any loyalty oath - ever. If PFAW's petition works then at least the Cal State policy will have been weakened by allowing employees to add a "signing statement" -- some poetic justice there methinks.

:hi:

Edward Chase Tolman was not the most distinguished researcher who has graced the halls of the psychology department at University of California, Berkeley but he was a powerful faculty member on campus who refused to sign a loyalty oath during the Red Scare of the 1950s. My mentor was young and did not have tenure when he decided to sign the loyalty oath on the advice of senior faculty -- he regrets signing it to this day -- now over 40 years later.


Originally called the Education-Psychology Building, Tolman Hall was renamed in 1963 for Professor Edward Chace Tolman who taught at Cal from 1918 to 1954. A major contributor to psychology, he made important modifications to the ideas of behaviorism. He is also notable for having refused on principle to sign a loyalty oath during the Red Scare of the 1950s. http://psychology.berkeley.edu/resources/tolman.html

Note: I am well aware that Berkeley is not part of the Cal State System now of concern. I am mentioning Berkeley because the situations are analogous.

I used to work for the OU Health Sciences Center, and we had to sign one of those as well. I didn't like having to sign it, but I was desperate for a job. You do what you have to do . . . .

survive to fight another day. If you look at the LAT link in post #3 you'll see it is WAY common in CA. I wonder how many other places still have this disgrace going on.

It has been standard procedure for anyone obtaining a government job has to sign a loyalty oath. It goes back centuries. Now, does this make it legal? No, but the legal precedent is so well established that it would be difficult to eradicate (short of legislation).

Proof: John Yoo at UC Berkeley

Or, maybe he found a loophole: his trashing of the US Constitution came before he took the oath for the job at Berkeley.

Of course, the oath he took to work for the DOJ is another story.