Bernie-backed California House candidate called DEI a ‘social justice-driven duty,’ embraced activist role

A Bernie Sanders -backed California congressional candidate who touts his career as an educator has used the classroom and academia to push diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and activist groups, according to his own writings and reports on his work with students.

Randy Villegas is taking on Republican Rep.

David Valadao in California’s 22nd Congressional District in a high-stakes Central Valley showdown that could help determine control of the House .

Democrats have made the seat a top pickup target as the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the district a "toss-up" and gives the district a razor-thin D+1 partisan lean.

Villegas, a political science professor at College of the Sequoias and Visalia school board trustee, co-authored a 2022 academic paper arguing that DEI is central to the mission of community college educators and describing it as a "social justice-driven duty." The paper, titled "A Commitment to Teaching, Learning, and Student Advocacy: Community College Careers," was published by the American Political Science Association as a chapter in Strategies for Navigating Graduate School and Beyond.

"At the heart of community college teaching is diversity, equity, and inclusion , and culturally responsive teaching," Villegas wrote.

"Community colleges commit to teaching excellence and to a social justice-driven duty to accessibility.

Most community colleges have similar institutional characteristics as a result.

For example, community colleges are open access institutions.

This means that all students are accepted." COAST GUARD ENDING RACE-BASED ADMISSIONS FOR OFFICER COMMISSIONING PROGRAM UNDER TRUMP DEI CRACKDOWN Villegas and his co-authors framed diversity and inclusion as a responsibility that extended beyond campus, writing that "a commitment to diversity and inclusion expands from the classroom to the communities in which students live" and arguing that students’ "social and economic realities" should also shape course design.

While the paper pre-dates President Donald Trump’s push to eliminate DEI mandates across the federal government and education system, it sheds light on Villegas’ views on DEI and social justice in higher education .

In his dissertation , "Voices from the Valley of Vulnerability," written for the University of California, Santa Cruz, Villegas identifies himself as a "former community organizer and scholar activist" and makes the case that activism can be part of his scholarly work.

He bats away concerns that activism could affect academic objectivity, arguing that his activism gave him access to information and that his identity and life experiences made his research stronger.