Letter to the Editor: Additional student adviser furthers conversation for future of the UC

Dear Editor:

Your recent editorial on the proposal by UC’s current student regent to add a student adviser to the UC Board of Regents lacked some crucial information.

Adding another voting member to the board would require amending the California Constitution, a lengthy and uncertain process. Instead, the student regent proposes a more expeditious idea, adding an additional student voice to the important discussions not only about students at the University, but about the functioning and future of the UC system.

Contrary to what you state in your editorial, this is but the latest effort undertaken by the regents, and UC as a whole, to engage students in the governance of the University. Some of these efforts are formal, such as presenting at meetings and serving on task forces, while others are less so, such as conversations between students and regents at board meetings, including during meals.

And as befitting a student body of smart, dynamic citizens, UC students themselves continue to spearhead initiatives that are changing our university for the better, such as the wide-ranging efforts to combat sexual violence and assault.

As such, your dismissive editorial widely misses the mark.

Dianne Klein

Director, Media Engagement and Strategy

University of California Office of the President