Professors face firing for criticizing funding of ‘social justice’ activities at public college

The “administrative determination” report by Christopher Hine, general counsel with the Kern Community College District, found that Garrett and Miller “engaged in unprofessional conduct” at a Sept. 12, 2019 event. Hine’s report claims the duo accused Oliver Rosales and Andrew Bond of improperly using grant monies at the Social Justice Institute, a “non-partisan” college organization co-founded by President Sonya Christian and Bakersfield Mayor Harvey Hall.

But their lawyer told The College Fix that Garrett and Miller were simply stating their disagreement with how the funds were being allocated. Even “the investigation concluded that much of what Professor Garrett was saying was protected speech under the First Amendment,” Arthur Willner said. (Miller gave a 12-minute introduction to Garrett’s lecture.)

Exactly what the professors said is not in dispute because video of the event is public. It was hosted by the Renegade Institute for Liberty, which Garrett founded at the college several years ago. Miller currently serves on its advisory board.

“If you view the video, you can see that at no time did Dr. Garrett accuse anybody of such a thing,” Willner said in a phone interview. “His concern was that funds were being … allocated in connection with a particular political agenda, which he felt, in his opinion, was inappropriate.”

The lawyer said he’s been in touch with the general counsel’s office at Bakersfield College. Investigators must “vacate” their findings because they are based on false grounds: “At no time did Garrett or Miller accuse anybody of fiscal malfeasance or misappropriation of funds.”