David Crane will no longer be part of the UC Board of Regents following the California State Senate’s failure to confirm his appointment to the the University’s governing body Tuesday.
State law required the Senate to confirm Crane’s position within one year of his appointment by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Crane had been appointed to a 12-year term in 2010.
The Senate failed to confirm Crane within the necessary time span, which officially ended his appointment.
Crane’s assignment to the board was contested by UC students and employees.
Claudia Magana, the president of the University of California Student Association and a student at UC Santa Cruz, said the association was not in favor of Crane’s appointment because he did not represent the public sector and because students were not consulted prior to the appointment.
Before his appointment as a regent, Crane worked at a multi-billion dollar investment firm in the private sector and served as a special economic adviser to Schwarzenegger during his term as governor.
There are a significant number of regents on the board who know finances well, but Crane’s understanding of the students and the university is missing, said Student Regent Alfredo Mireles. Crane teaches at Stanford University.
Earlier this year several UCLA professors signed a petition to oppose Crane’s appointment. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents a union of UC employees, also opposed Crane’s appointment because he opposes collective bargaining for public employees, according to the union’s website.
It is still unclear when Gov. Jerry Brown will make a new appointment and who will fill the position left vacant by Crane.
The University of California Student Association is working to devise a set of preferred requirements for future regent appointments and plans to share the ideas with the governor’s office, Magana said.
“It is important that whoever is a regent has experience working with the university as a public institution and understands how the UC works,” Magana said.
Compiled by Naheed Rajwani, Bruin senior staff.