California community college seeks restaurant management professor with ‘strong commitment to social and racial justice’

A California community college is reviewing applications for a restaurant management professor position that includes several diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) qualifications. 

Last November, HigherEdJobs published a job posting for a Restaurant Management Assistant Professor at Diablo Valley College of Pleasant Hill, California, which is part of the Contra Costa Community College District. Applications for the tenure track position closed on the website as of Jan. 23, one day after applications were due, and the new position will begin this August.

A college official confirmed to Campus Reform that “[t]his job posting closed and the process of applicant review is underway.”

[RELATED: Former DEI staffer sues University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire for anti-white discrimination]

The job listing stated: “We are looking for a colleague who will demonstrate discipline expertise and show sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic backgrounds and abilities of community college students,” and added: “We are looking for instructors who share a strong commitment to social and racial justice and who use or are inspired to use anti-racist pedagogies that close equity gaps by recognizing, understanding, and respecting the perspectives of all students.”

It also stated that “[w]e strongly encourage those with historically marginalized and/or underrepresented identities to apply, including people of color, non-binary and transgender individuals, women, and Indigenous people.”

Other qualifications for the position include “[u]nderstanding of and sensitivity to the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, sexual orientation and ethnic backgrounds of community college students, staff and faculty,” and a “bachelors degree (or higher) with the equivalent of two years of full-time professional experience” or an “associates degree with the equivalent of six years of full-time professional experience.”

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Multiple professors in California community colleges have previously issued lawsuits targeting regulations imposing DEI in the classroom, specifically mandating that teachers be evaluated on the basis of their commitment to support DEI, as noted on Inside Higher Ed.

Campus Reform wrote this January about a California federal judge who “dismissed a lawsuit filed against the University of California, Santa Cruz, over its required DEI statement for applicants to faculty job listings,” arguing that the plaintiff had no legal standing to sue.