The Governor Is Free Speechless

Imagine a California governor in recent years being honored by University of California students for his contribution to higher education. Imagine, in particular, a Republican governor receiving such a tribute. Carry it one step further, and imagine such a tribute made within the context of the 20th anniversary of the Free Speech Movement at Berkeley. Heavens to Clark Kerr and Mario Savio!

But it happened in Sacramento the other evening. The UC Student Lobby honored Gov. George Deukmejian at the group’s annual legislative awards dinner, presenting him with a “really nice” abstract silk-screen print, according to student lobbyist Kirk Knutsen of UC Riverside.

As they say, times change. After years of lean (and mean, some UC sources would say) budgets, Deukmejian has showered the university with relative fiscal abundance.

Students change, too. Free speech on campus does not have the defiant and strident tone that it did in Savio’s day. “We operate more professionally,” Knutsen said. Still, the Free Speech Movement is an important part of the students’ heritage and they feel very strongly about freedom of expression on campus, he said.

The governor’s reaction to the award? “I’m speechless,” he said. But he recovered enough to deliver a speech on excellence in education. That’s a welcome change, too, from the anti-intellectualism and stern lectures on student behavior by governors of the recent past.