Editorial: Napolitano should direct media attention to the UC

But Napolitano’s recent press appearances have not garnered attention for her commentary on higher education and California politics. Rather, her comments on issues such as National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden and the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia gained the most public traction.

Napolitano is often credited foremost as the “former U.S. homeland security secretary” – many media outlets refer to her current post almost as an afterthought. It is incumbent on the UC’s president to push and break from this characterization.

National attention is a valuable tool Napolitano can use to distinguish herself as a voice in higher education policy, an area of her expertise many questioned after her appointment this summer.

This does not mean downplaying her past prominence. It is because of her track record of impressive political positions that it is all the more important for Napolitano to manage her media presence in a way that brings the UC to the fore.

However, Napolitano was appointed to her current position with the intention of leveraging her political clout for the benefit of the UC, which in troubled economic times has become unmoored from the stalwart support of state legislators.

Important though her Olympic appointment is, Napolitano would do well to direct as much attention to Sacramento as to Sochi, particularly as a new legislative session kicked off in the California capitol this week.

It is understandable that Napolitano will be asked about issues that relate to her position as a former Cabinet secretary. But she nonetheless has the wherewithal to use her position on the national stage to bring higher education to the top of the country’s agenda.

In and of themselves, Napolitano’s recent media appearances neither hurt nor help the UC. But by focusing her media appearances on the mounting cost of higher education, state disinvestment from university systems nationwide and the importance of funding scientific research, she can make sure every time she sits down in front of a camera is a press opportunity for the University.

Unlike previous UC presidents, who came to the position from within academia, Napolitano’s track record allows her to turn cameras and microphones in her direction.

That unique ability affords Napolitano opportunities not available to her predecessors, ones she should use to influence the national and state conversation on education.