Thursday, November 5, 2009

Chancellor Birgeneau Wants More Democratic Process in Selecting Regents

At a student town hall on November 5, UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau said that he thinks the process of selecting regents should be more democratic. He noted that there are no academics on the Board, and that he has suggested several names but they have not been chosen. This response came after a question asking whether he supported 6 demands made by the General Assembly following the September 24th protest. He however also said that he doesn't respond to demands, and that he is 'neutral' on democratizing the Regents. This contrasted, however, with Executive Vice Chancellor George Breslauer, who called democratizing the regents a 'canard' and said that the probelm was in Sacramento.