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These are very tough financial times in California and I recognize that families are cutting
back. They’ve had very difficult time to themselves. We have twelve percent unemployment,
we have people who’ve lost value in their home and their retirement. They’re very
worried about maintaining their own family stability. I still believe there’s a reservoir
of support for the University of California because of a fundamental question of fairness
and opportunity. I think everyone who has seen California grow recognizes that the University
of California has been the vehicle for growth and opportunity for so many people. And so
while people are constrained and are struggling through their own tough times, they want that
opportunity to be available for young people.
You know, the funding for the University of California has clearly eroded. There has just
not been a commitment from leadership and the governor’s office, Legislature for decades
to provide the kind of support we need to keep higher education prosperous. It really
is a function of political will. You know, I was a director of finance for the state
of California under Pete Wilson, we made choices to invest in the University of California.
But that’s the kind of decision that every governor needs to make. They always need to
make choices. That’s leadership and we need the leadership to stand up and say the University
of California is a priority, it’s a priority for California’s future.
We have an obligation to look hard at how we operate, we’ve done that. We established
a Commission on the Future, we established administrative goals to reduce our cost by
over 500 million dollars a year. That’s a tremendous amount of resources that can
go back into the classroom, back in making courses available for our students. We’re
also fighting like hell in Sacramento to have the priority of the University of California
reestablished in the Legislature and the governor’s office. We need leadership in Sacramento to
stand up for UC and stand up for the future of California.
I think for every Californian, there’s a value to having the University of California
and it’s a variety of things. It can be health care, it can be job creation, it’s
civic and community leadership that we develop. But the important thing is it is the core,
it is the heart of California and so every Californian, whether young or old, can benefit
from a vibrant and healthy University of California.
I can’t imagine California’s economy thriving, providing opportunities. If the University
of California is not creating new jobs and new opportunities and we prove that every
day. We have created thousands of new jobs, the engineering school alone at Berkeley has
started 114 new businesses and total volume of those businesses is $30 billion. Tremendous
growth; you look at the biotech industry, the epicenter of that being in San Diego.
Without a UC San Diego there would be no biotech industry in California. We’ve really created,
I think, the best model that exists in the world to provide for public opportunities
for young people to navigate higher education and whether the University of California is
your final destination plan. The fact that it’s there; an opportunity, and if your
talent and if your abilities fit and you can achieve great things at the university, that
chance is there.
We can’t promise to the next generation that it’s going to be world without strife,
that there won’t be international problems or problems with the environment. What we
can promise and should promise is that they have an opportunity to shape that future.
I think one of the surprises you get when you’re chair is you get an opportunity to
speak throughout the state, on campuses and one of the great surprises is when you get
an opportunity to speak after a student has just presented why the University of California
has meant so much to them and you realize just the vitality, the excitement of those
students, I think what motivates me to be chair and really dedicate the time is recognizing
what UC means to California. The opportunity to help shape the future of the University
of California and arguably shape the future direction of California, is worth the investment
of time.
I greatly fear that the demise of the university can be achieved in a very short period of
time. It’s taken us decades to build a great university, a great faculty, a student body
that recognizes the value of what the institution can provide. I believe that if the state walks
away from the University of California and higher education, we can destroy these institutions
in a very short period and I know as Regents, we’re not going to let that happen.