permission from the student government to display them. She stated, “You’re allowed to put posters up, but you need to get permission from student government to do that, otherwise I have to take them down.” In our public records request, Young America’s Foundation demanded that Saddleback College produce the school policy that Lovett referenced. The school’s answer to the request revealed that no such policy exists. The Foundation also confirmed that school policy did not require Lovett to destroy the posters.
Saddleback’s Faculty Applauded Lovett’s Actions Young America’s Foundation’s public records request uncovered a series of emails between Lovett and other faculty members. In an email dated September 11, 2016, three days after the story went viral, Lovett wrote, “The college administration has been extremely supportive, which I very much appreciate. I have received phone calls from President Burnett, VPSS Juan Avalos, and VPI Kathy Werle.” Positing faculty against students, Howard Gensler, an economics instructor at Saddleback College (quoted on page 30), voiced his support of Lovett’s actions by describing students as “subsidized guests” of the college who are lucky to spend time with her. In the same email, Gensler also unequivocally offered his “full support” of Lovett’s actions. Fellow history instructor, Jedrek Mularski, in an email to Lovett, told her that she gets “a badge of honor” for her actions. He then advocated that “the college release a statement that you [Lovett] were required to enforce Brit Hume features the events at Saddleback College during Fox News’s On the Record. campus policy.” Again, Young America’s Foundation discovered that no such campus community. An English professor from Saddleback’s sister policy exists. Mularski also suggested that the college have one school, Irvine Valley College, wrote Lovett to express her of its “conservative administrators contact the group [YAF] to support, noting, “Just now discovered, uh, recent events try to convince them to take down the article/video.” regarding the YAFers 9/11 posters and ensuing (all too Mularski also criticized Saddleback College’s predictable) right-wing media coverage…I admire your spirit administration for not removing the 2,977 flags that YAF and your actions.” (Emphasis added.) students placed in the ground to personally honor each Even a professor from North Carolina’s Elon University victim of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He wrote, “And so I guess wrote to Lovett, saying, “I watched the video they recorded those flags on the lawn were from the YAF. It sounds like the of you and read the one-sided hate-filled comments in the College said no to their installation, but then chickened out on thread…You don’t need me to tell you that your comments to actually removing it once YAF set it up.” the group were polite and reasonable, but I thought you might Mularski summed up his thoughts on the situation by appreciate a friendly supportive message nonetheless.” exclaiming, “This crap is infuriating on so many levels.” In an email from the South Orange County Community Support for Lovett extended beyond the Saddleback Young America’s Foundation | Libertas | Summer 2017
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