Regents threaten student voice

Regents threaten student voice

New proposal signals dangerous trend to limit say in future of
university education. Bruins must speak out against blatant
exclusion from process.

Sometimes it seems the more things change, the more they really
do stay the same. Take, for instance, the issue of university
students’ power over their own education.

Whether via the formation of associated student bodies in the
1920s or free speech movements in the 1960s, the struggle for a
student voice with regard to the direction and mission of the
University of California has surfaced almost since the university’s
inception. And it wasn’t until 1975 that – after an intense
struggle – students were allotted a seat on the Board of Regents,
the highest decision-making body in the UC system.

Now this student seat is in jeopardy.

This past Monday, Regent Glen Campbell proposed a motion that
would permanently eliminate the position of the student regent. And
some of Campbell’s colleagues agree with him.

According to fellow Regent William Bagley, some regents already
believe that the student position is unproductive. In addition,
Bagley indicated that talk among the current board to eliminate the
official student voice is nothing new.

But the vulnerability of his seat was news to current student
Regent Edward Gomez, who received the information second-hand. It
was bad news for Jess Bravin, next year’s tentative student regent,
who was nominated by the board’s selection committee less than
three weeks ago.

The student position has never been a given. A generation ago,
students participated in an uphill battle to obtain what many
believed was a small voice on a very influential body. It wasn’t a
complete victory, though.

For although the University of California Students Association
sifts through a host of student regent nominees from student
councils throughout California, ultimately the regents themselves
make the final selection. In other words, students do not have
direct representation.

So, it is particularly bewildering that the regents would
propose to oust the student position altogether.

And it signals a dangerous trend. For beginning last June, the
regents decided to conduct their meetings exclusively at UC San
Francisco instead of alternating between the nine campuses
throughout the year as they had in the past.

We think that the limitations on student accessibility to such
meetings are obvious.

It is only too coincidental that talk of moving the meetings
arose soon after student protests began to increase in frequency.
It is also too coincidental that UC San Francisco is the most
physically impregnable campus of all the UCs when well guarded with
an abundant and accessible police force.

But that was only the beginning. At the July meeting, during
which the regents decided to rescind affirmative action in hiring
and admissions policies, attempts to limit student participation in
the debate abounded.

At the most recent January meeting, the regents attempted to
silence students by limiting individual public comments to a meager
60 seconds. Eleven students exceeded this allowance. The result?
They were arrested.

And now this.

First the regents attempt to silence students using geography.
Then they try to utilize law enforcement. And now they attempt to
rewrite their own rules.

This move is condescending, insulting and wrong. We strongly
urge Regent Campbell to rescind his motion to eliminate the student
regent position.

Just as urgently, we ask students at UCLA – both graduate and
undergraduate – to contact both campus student government and
California state politicians and speak out against this blatant
attempt to prevent us from having any say in the future of our
university education. Remember – the vote on this issue is
scheduled for a week from today.Comments to
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