Cal State system ousts another instructor who objects on religious grounds to a pledge adopted by California in 1952 to root out communists

by E Wayne Ross on May 2, 2008

Los Angeles Times: Teacher fired for refusing to sign loyalty oath

When Wendy Gonaver was offered a job teaching American studies at Cal State Fullerton this academic year, she was pleased to be headed back to the classroom to talk about one of her favorite themes: protecting constitutional freedoms.

But the day before class was scheduled to begin, her appointment as a lecturer abruptly ended over just the kind of issue that might have figured in her course. She lost the job because she did not sign a loyalty oath swearing to “defend” the U.S. and California constitutions “against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”