FRESNO, Calif. (CN) — A federal judge ruled Friday that a community college can’t fire or discipline a professor for his opposition to policies promoting diversity, equity and inclusion — commonly referred to as DEI — but it can require the teacher to take mandatory DEI training as a requirement to participate on faculty screening committees.
The ruling is temporary, since it came in the form of a preliminary injunction, meaning the case is active and can still proceed to trial.
Daymon Johnson is a history professor and leader of the Renegade Institute for Liberty, a right-wing faculty coalition that claims to stand for “diversity of thought and intellectual literacy through the free and open discourse of American ideals.” The former leader of the group, Matthew Garrett, a tenured professor of history and vocal critic of DEI policies spreading across the Kern Community College District, was fired in 2023. Garrett sued the district, which later agreed to settle the case for $2.4 million. Apparently fearing he’d be next on the chopping block, Johnson also sued, rather preemptively…