Who Knew College Teachers Had To Sign Loyalty Oaths?

Apparently they do in the California State University system.  This from the SF Chronicle:

As a Quaker, [Cal State East Bay teacher] Kearney-Brown is committed to nonviolence and was unwilling to sign the state oath of allegiance that required her to "swear (or affirm)" that she would "support and defend" the U.S. and California constitutions "against all enemies, foreign and domestic." She tried inserting the word "nonviolently" in front of the word "support," but was told by university officials that altering the oath was unacceptable.

Is this more a story about the inappropriate use of loyalty oaths or a massive bureaucracy that processes an incredibly personal (and powerful) personal affirmation like a HIPAA waiver at the doctor's office?  In the end, lawyers with the state AG allowed her to append the following statement:  "Signing the oath does not carry with it any obligation or requirement that public employees bear arms or otherwise engage in violence." 

Saddest of all is that the rare person who actually read and cared about the oath was the one who got rolled under the bus.

Comments

[Belle Lettre]

All employees of the public schools in CA have to sign loyalty oaths. Even the lowliest readers (graders) and teaching assistants. I did when I held both positions, with slight umbrage, except that I do support the Constitution. I didn't insert "nonviolently" before mine, although I wonder how the University of California would have responded. Probably not favorably.

It is unfortunate, but not very surprising, or is it? How common are loyalty oaths nowadays?

[Matt]

BL is right that it's all university employees in CA that must sign the loyalty oath (maybe all public employees- I don't know.) My understanding is that this dates back to the first term of Reagan as Gov. I was a temporary summer employee of the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at UC Hastings a few years ago and had to sign. (I also had to join the State employees retirement plan, something I found even more annoying, even though they did give me back my money soon after my summer employement ended.)