Wendy Gonaver was going to teach American Studies at Cal State, but just before the beginning of the semester she was asked to sign a loyalty oath, pledging to “defend” both the US and California constitutions “against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
Gonaver is a Quaker and pacifist from Pennsylvania and a lifelong pacifist who objects to infringements on rights of free speech and religious freedom. She was willing to sign the pledge if they would have allowed her to attach a brief statement of her own, but they would not let her do that.
The subject of the course she doesn’t get to teach: free speech and religious freedom in the United States.
