Many of the protests concerning the University of California and the UC Board of Regents that have occurred over the last few years stem from an organization called the Coalition to Free the UC. Recently in San Francisco, a group of supporters tried to disrupt a UC Regents meeting by chaining themselves to poles with bike locks. Unfortunately, the police had to remove the locks from the necks of the supporters. The Coalition to Free the UC is a far-left, radical organization that seeks to transform the University from an elitist, corporate, militaristic, autocratic, imperialist institution into a responsible, just, diverse, equitable, democraticallygoverned, peoples University that educates and works for the common welfare.
While the Coalition espouses many diverse and convoluted ideas, much of its attention is focused toward the UC Regents. Two proposals promoted by the coalition are to sever ties with the UC nuclear weapons laboratories and to relax admissions criteria for the UC system. While the UC system does need some improvements, the Coalition to Free the UCs reforms are not reasonable or effective solutions.
The Coalition to Free the UC wants to end ties with nuclear weapons laboratories, such as the Lawrence Lab at UC Berkeley, because the University of California cooperates with the U.S. government in research at the lab. Ending a program that is critical to U.S. defense would be wrong and irresponsible of the UC Regents because it would put American citizens in harms way. The coalition does not reasonably consider the danger that comes from its desire for the UC system to separate from the nuclear laboratories. The University of California should continue working with the U.S. government on research and cooperation between the different laboratories.
The SAT and SAT II are also problem issues the radical organization has with the UC Regents. According to the coalition, The UC Regents should adopt the faculty proposal to eliminate the SAT II, as well as eliminate the entire SAT in UC admissions, and work toward increasing underrepresented minority enrollment. The group wants to get rid of the test altogether, therefore making it easier for less-qualified students to get into a better UC, such as UC Berkeley. While most people would find the coalitions claims to get rid of the SAT extreme and unfair to students who do have the qualifications, the organization continues to push for the tests removal. The SAT and the other tests for college admissions should be continued because they are one critical part out of many reasonable criteria for college selection.
However, the UC Regents system is not perfect and does some need reasonable improvements and reforms. One of the critical improvements that needs to continue to be addressed is transparency around pay for Board members and employees. In the past few years, the Regents have had to deal with better management of their payments. It is vital to have an independent auditor to review the Board to make sure payments are going to the right people and places.
Also, a more effective plan to help increase diversity at UC campuses is for the Board of Regents to urge the campuses to promote more private scholarships to qualified minorities, rather than removing standardized tests. When making UC campuses more diverse, the Regents methods should not be to lower the standards for admission, which the Coalition to Free the UC proposes. Minority students would benefit more if they continued to be admitted on merit and earned privately funded scholarships than if they were admitted because admissions standards were lowered.
Another important improvement needed for a more successful UC system is effective leadership. The recently appointed UC president, Mark Yudof, has been selected with great confidence among the Regents to lead the UC system. The University of California seems to be in good hands with the new appointee because of his prior leadership since 2001 as chancellor of the University of Texas system, which is almost as complex and diverse as Californias UC system.
The UC Board of Regents is critical to the effectiveness and competitiveness of the University of California. While there are some issues concerning the Board that can be improved, largescale transformation of the Board is not needed. Neither the University of California nor its students would benefit from the Coalition to Free the UCs proposals.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider supporting the Patriot