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Schools

University of California Gets First Woman President

She's expected to quit her federal post in September, and then take over the prestigious post.

By Bay City News Service

Janet Napolitano was appointed Thursday as the first-ever female president of the University of California in a vote by the UC Board of Regents.
          
Napolitano, 55, who is secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and former governor of Arizona, was appointed at a special regents' meeting Thursday afternoon at UC San Francisco's Mission Bay campus.
          
She is expected to resign from her federal post on Sept. 6 and take over as UC president at the end of that month.
          
The UC system has faced budget cuts in recent years because of the declining economy and a decrease in state funding, but Napolitano told the regents that "the ability to tackle tough challenges is what I know."
          
She said, "I will listen to the governor and the Legislature, the regents, faculty, the students and the staff. I need to know where you think we need to be going, where we are excelling and where we can improve."
          
The two student regents on the board provided the lone dissenting votes against Napolitano, citing her role in the federal Secure Communities program, which led to the widespread deportation of undocumented immigrants.
          
Cinthia Flores, one of the two student regents, said "Secure Communities will cast a long shadow on her future endeavors" and is not in line with the university's commitment to diversity.
          
That sentiment was echoed by dozens of students and immigrant supporters who held a rally before the meeting to oppose Napolitano's appointment.
          
"This is the same person who ... criminalized immigrants," said Jen Low, a UC Santa Cruz alumna.
          
"It is unjust for her to be the next president of our treasured public university," Low said.
          
Some of the students criticized what they said was a lack of transparency in the selection process for a new president and the fact that the appointment occurred during the UC schools' summer break when it was harder to organize against it.
          
Several members of the group also spoke out in opposition to the appointment during the public comment period of the meeting.
          
The meeting was briefly interrupted when one member of the group charged at the regents but was stopped by police officers who took him away in handcuffs.

          
At least four others were also arrested after shouting down the regents with chants of "Education not deportation."
          
Napolitano said she has been a consistent advocate for comprehensive immigration reform and the DREAM Act to help undocumented students.    

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She said of the protesters, "I want them to feel that they have in me a leader who wants the University of California to be a welcoming place for them."
          
Napolitano was recommended for the position by a special regents' selection committee that reviewed more than 300 candidates for the position, UC officials said.


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