He has been
described by some student leaders as "paternalistic," and by
some faculty members as "not enough of an academic." But to
members of the UC Board of Regents, President David P. Gardner
is a master diplomat and commands unyielding respect.
In the
year-and-a-half since he took the job, Gardner has nurtured the
university's ailing budgetary health, reorganized the Office of
the President, increased faculty salaries, lowered registration
fees and has kept a low profile among students. So low, in fact,
that many students don't know who he is.
He is president
of all nine UC campuses, three national laboratories, five
university hospitals, 6,500 faculty members, 144,000 students
and 105,000 staff members.
But those are
just a few hats he wears. Among the regents, Gardner plays "ring
master." And it is his job to see that their monthly meetings
don't digress into political circuses. Gardner has said he sees
his role as building consensus among the board members and
bringing out their "commonality" on particular issues.
It is that role
that many students and faculty members disagree with. When the
momentum of the divestment movement lit fiery protests at almost
every campus in the UC system over three weeks ago, Gardner was
unable to appease angry students who demanded answers and not
what many perceived to be typical bureaucratic "rhetoric."
At a recent forum
in Harmon Gymnasium Gardner was booed after several regents came
out for divestment and said he was not sure how he would vote.
"The students
certainly do have a right to know what my views on this matter
are and they will when I'm prepared to share them . . ."
Gardner said. "When I am comfortable with expressing my opinion
and the course of action that I think the University of
California should follow. . . . If all that was moral and right
was on one side of the line there wouldn't be much controversy."
Gardner said he
needs to review the information that will be presented by
Regents Treasurer Herbert M. Gordon at the June 20-21 regents
meeting at UC San Francisco before he goes public with his view
on how the university's investment policies should be changed.
He will not remain neutral on the subject forever, Gardner said
at press conference last week. Currently the University has $2.4
billion invested in companies with ties to racially-segregated
South Africa.
Many other
regents have expressed their views, including Assembly Speaker
Willie Brown and Lieutenant Gov. Leo McCarthy, both of whom are
ex-officio regents. They and three other regents have indicated
that they would favor full divestment. Other regents have said
they would opt for some sort of partial or selective divestment.
Gardner's
handling of the divestment issue has brought his role as
mediator into the limelight. Other student leaders as well as
faculty, community leaders and the press have also accused
Gardener of using rhetoric and "talking like a politician."
At a recent press
conference after 38 members of the faculty were arrested
protesting for divestment, faculty members said they would
prefer that Gardner act as their leader rather then an employee
of the regents.
"There is no way I could express
a personal feeling without people taking it as an official
position," Gardner said before the protests began. "So I'm not
allowed that luxury."
"I'm not paid to
be happy or popular," Gardner said. "I'm paid to do my job."
The regents are a
diverse group of mostly wealthy governor-appointed business and
political leaders who set policy each month for all nine
campuses.
With these
diverse political and personal views the regents act on such
explosive issues as divestment, affirmative action and the
university's weapon's lab contracts.
"There are
several interesting personalities on the board. . . ." Gardner
said. "They are all very different personalities. It helps to
bring them together, not divide them."
And the regents
generally adhere to his suggestions or views on an issue. Even
the most critical or outspoken regent rarely criticizes
Gardner's performance as a master diplomat.
Gardner takes his
diplomacy and neutrality seriously -- one reason why he was
selected as president. In fact Gardner will not even reveal what
his political persuasion is.
"That's for me to
know and everyone else to wonder about," Gardner said when asked
whether he was a democrat or a republican. The Contra Costa
Registrar of Voter's office said Gardner declined to state what
party he is affiliated with, if any.
"When I served as
a chair of the National Commission On Excellence In Education,
the White House asked me that question. I wouldn't tell them. I
also told them that if they had to know they would have to get
someone else to serve," he said.
"Have to get
along with everyone," Gardner said.
In fact Gardner's
immutable diplomacy has led to speculation that he will
eventually run for political office. But that's out of the
question, Gardner said.
"I'm not
interested," Gardner said. "I think I really would not care for
elective office in terms of my own personality and the degree of
privacy that I value for my own life and my family."
While Gardner may
have won points with the regents for his diplomacy, student
leaders have criticized Gardner for not taking a stand on
controversial issues.
"What he says is
direct and aggressive but what he says does not always address
the question. Anyone who wants to have a clear discussion with
him would be frustrated," said former ASUC president Cathy
Campbell after meeting with Gardner last year.
"I can't allow
myself the luxury sometimes, of saying exactly what I'm thinking
or stating it as I might instinctively wish to state it,"
Gardner said.
"I'm not
surprised at Cathy's comment," Gardner said. "It's not so much
that she didn't understand what I was saying but more that she
disagreed with me," Gardner said.
Although Gardner
said he is not really sure what students think of him, he did
say that Campbell's opinion was probably "unique," and other
students probably do not feel the same way.
Unique is also
how Gardner described the city of Berkeley, perhaps a lot
different from the more subdued University of Utah where he was
president before he returned to Berkeley to take the reigns of
the UC system.
Gardner is native
to Berkeley, he attended Berkeley High and what is now Martin
Luther King Junior High School. He also received his master's
and doctoral degrees in higher education from UC Berkeley. As an
undergraduate Gardner majored in history, political science and
geography at Brigham Young University.
Gardner's
attraction to Utah universities might have been spawned by his
religion. Gardner, a Mormon, said his religious beliefs do not
affect his job although they play a large role in his private
life.
"It's family,
university and church. That is really what my life revolves
around," Gardner said.
"If I were ever
in a position that I was obliged to administer a policy that so
offended me -- my own personal beliefs -- then I should leave
the post . . . ." Gardner said. "I am very conscious of that and
very aware of it and make a very honest and ethical effort to
keep that line in mind as I meet my responsibilities."
"I don't believe
that any success outside the home compensates for failure within
it. If I thought my job were going to erode the quality of my
family life
. . . . I would not allow it to do so. I would take another
job."
He will continue
to serve as president while he enjoys the support of most people
and as long as he is making a positive contribution, Gardner
said.
"There is no
understanding with the board, no expectations either on their
part or mine," Gardner said.
"I can assure you
I'm not doing this for the money. If I were motivated by that
I'd be doing something else.
Currently Gardner
earns $165,000. His salary was doubled when he took the job. But
as he points out, if he were working in the private sector he
could earn four times that amount.
But as long as he
is doing the job which he described as "challenging" and
"diverse," a number of questions remain to be answered.
"The University
of California is at the moment caught between the co- sequences
of several years of inadequate budget support on the one hand
and unprecedented demand for its programs by students wishing to
enroll here," Gardner said.
These questions
include:
-
Evaluating
the legacy of unexpected and "unprecedented" enrollment. The
evaluation will include the size of the campuses, the
balance of their programs, the proportion of upper division
to lower division students, the size of graduate schools and
how the university will deal with the enrollment demand
between now and the year 2000.
-
How does the
university position itself to be highly competitive for
attracting faculty members in the next 15 years when a large
number will soon retire?
-
Currently
there is a $4 billion backlog in buildings. Even without
allowing for the building needs that arise with the
enrollment increase -- where will the money come from?
-
What
educational initiatives should the university take to better
prepare students for the 20th century?
With all these
issues needing attention, Gardner said he is unable to be an
expert in every field as many demand of him. He has been accused
of delegating too much authority and of paying too much
attention to administrative issues and not enough to academic
issues.
"You have to
think about it for a minute. I have five vice presidents
reporting to me plus my immediate staff, nine chancellors
reporting to me. I have the directors of three major
laboratories (and) I have 27 regents beside myself to work with.
I have the legislative leadership, business leadership of the
state, the major newspapers, major donors, contacts in
Washington plus students, faculty and staff."
"I do try to get
around," Gardner said, "to be acquainted, to take the pulse, to
hear people out, to ask questions."
__________
Smolin,
Melinda. "UC President Gardner Has a Low Profile." The
Daily California.
Volume
XVII, No. 78. May 3, 1985. pp. 1 & 17.
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