California Community Colleges: Proposed Regulations Adding Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Criteria to Faculty Evaluation and Tenure Review

In March 2022, the California Community Colleges Board of Governors published notice of its proposal to adopt regulations that would add diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility criteria to faculty evaluation and tenure review standards. On April 22, FIRE submitted a public comment explaining the proposed regulations would violate faculty members’ academic freedom and First Amendment rights by compelling them to affirm certain views on disputed ideological issues and to incorporate those views into their academic activities. CCC then issued a modified proposal, but as FIRE explained in a second public comment submitted on May 20, the revisions did not resolve the substantial constitutional deficiencies of the original proposal.