Stand-tough regents set leadership standard

Stand-tough regents set leadership standard

Board thwarts Atkinson’s attempts to delay policy on race-based
admissions

By Jerry L. Martin

and Anne D. Neal

Constitutional lessons have been much at issue recently in the
University of California system. First, the Board of Regents
debated and disposed of race-based admissions, finding that such
policies violated UC students’ equal protection rights.

Now, we see a different – but equally important – lesson
reluctantly learned by University of California President Richard
Atkinson. It seems that Atkinson didn’t like the decision reached
by his governing board and intended to delay, if not undermine, its
implementation. This was shortly after the American Association of
University Professors shamefully egged him on by suggesting that
the board had exceeded its authority.

Thanks to a stand-tough board, however, Atkinson learned a
lesson in university regulation. "There is no question in my mind
that it is the constitutional duty of the board to set policy for
the university, and the role of the president is to implement that
policy," Atkinson conceded in a letter to Gov. Pete Wilson.

Faced with a special meeting called to discuss his performance,
Atkinson saw the light when it comes to who determines the policies
and directions a college will take.

Given such an elemental dispute, it’s not surprising that higher
education is in trouble. When presidents refuse to abide by board
decisions and ignore actions of publicly appointed trustees, is it
any wonder that public confidence in higher education declined from
61 percent in 1966 to a mere 25 percent in 1994?

But taxpayers, alumni and students can take heart.

Just as members of corporate boards have begun to educate
themselves and exert more influence over companies they direct, so
too have university-level boards – like the regents – who are
beginning to manifest a willingness to make the tough decisions
that must be made if the long-term health of higher education is to
be assured.

It is board members who hold both the responsibility and the
authority to take decisive action, and it is they who must
represent the concerns of society at large.

If higher education is to remain true to the traditional goals
of academic freedom and excellence, trustees must be willing to
stand up and be counted. Congratulations to the Board of Regents
for setting a standard of academic leadership. Let us hope that
other boards will follow suit.

Martin is president of the National Alumni Forum. Neal is vice
president.

UC President Richard Atkinson

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