UC board bids adieu to its four exiting members

By Robert Salonga
Daily Bruin Staff

The UC Board of Regents said goodbye to many of its influential
members Thursday in Covel Commons when several regents completed
their terms.

Regents’ chair S. Sue Johnson, along with regents William
Bagley, Delaine Eastin and Robert Hertzberg stepped down after
years of service to the UC.

At the end of Thursday’s meeting, several regents paid
tribute to arguably the most entertaining member of the board.
Bagley often served as comic relief even during tension-filled
debates between regents.

“I will always appreciate your sense of humor,”
Regent Odessa Johnson said to him.

Student Regent Tracy Davis recognized him for serving as a
mentor for her and her predecessors.

“(He) served as someone we can look up to,” Davis
said.

Bagley, a former state senator, was appointed by Gov. George
Deukmejian in 1989 and reappointed in 1990, finishing out his
12-year term Thursday.

He said he would miss the “wonderful people who surrounded
him at the board.”

Johnson, a UC Riverside graduate who first served as an alumni
regent in 1988 and was appointed by Deukmejian in 1990, described
her term as a “rewarding and humbling experience.”

“During my decade here, I received a priceless education
that I will always treasure,” Johnson said.
“There’s no place like (the UC) in the
world.”

State Assembly Speaker Hertzberg, a regent by virtue of his
office who has served since April 2000, fought back tears to
express his appreciation for the board.

“It’s a great honor to be associated with
you,” said Hertzberg, who will be entering the private sector
after 29 years of serving the public.

Also leaving the board is Eastin, state superintendent of public
instruction since January 1995. She urged the remaining members to
keep fighting to improve K-12 education throughout the state.

“These kids will grow up to be our lawyers, doctors,
scientists and teachers,” she said. “The return on this
investment is tremendous.”