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Georgia college asks applicant if he’s a member of Communist Party

A technical college in Georgia says it erroneously included a “loyalty oath” in a stack of documents for a professor who had applied for a job.

Bill Ellenberg applied for a position at Lanier Technical College, and upon noticing the paper that asked him to affirm he was not a member of the Communist Party he contacted the local American Civil Liberties Union.

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the ACLU promptly sent a letter to Lanier demanding it get rid of the McCarthyite oath, noting it “violates state law and the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.”

“Rooting out employees who are or are thought to be members of the Communist Party was unconstitutional during the Cold War, and it remains unconstitutional today,” said the Georgia ACLU’s Sean J. Young.

The college maintains the whole thing was a mistake and is currently investigating the matter.

From the story:

Ellenberg, 66, signed the oath because he said he’s not a communist. Still, he was stunned by the document and said he raised his concerns with college officials.

“I felt kind of angry and absolutely flabbergasted that in 2018 that people still had such policies in place,” Ellenberg said in a telephone interview.

“It’s wrong,” he added. …

“We were inadvertently using the incorrect form,” the college said in a statement. “It was rectified as soon as it was brought to the attention of the president and we are now using the correct form.”

Ellenberg said he decided not to teach at the college.

The report notes most state employees are required to sign oaths “supporting the state and federal constitutions.”

Read the full article.

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