12 UC Regents Linked to Protested Firms

Gov. George Deukmejian and University of California President David Gardner are among 12 UC regents who own stock in American companies with ties to South Africa, it was reported Sunday.

Ten of the regents, including Deukmejian and Gardner, own stock in the same companies that they will be asked to consider dumping from the university’s portfolio because of the controversy over investments in firms doing business with South Africa, the Sacramento Bee reported.

South Africa’s racially divided policies have triggered campus demonstrations across the country and throughout the UC system in recent weeks, resulting in hundreds of arrests.

Regents, reacting to the protests and pressure from California legislators, are scheduled to consider in June whether to sell the system’s $1.7-billion worth of holdings in South African-related businesses, most of them involving shares in such industrial giants as General Motors and Coca-Cola.

Legal Counsel

The Bee reported that 1984 financial disclosure statements filed by the 28 regents show that 10 of them could find themselves violating state conflict-of-interest laws if they participate in the decision on stock the UC system holds in 26 companies involved in South Africa.

Gardner said he has asked the system’s lawyer to advise regents at their next meeting in May whether their stock holdings present a potential conflict.

He told The Bee through a spokesman that he owns an amount of stock so minimal that he does not think it would influence his decision on divestiture.

His financial statement in March, 1985, showed that he held stock valued between $1,001 and $10,000 in Standard Oil of California, Boeing Co. and IBM, all with South African ties, The Bee said. UC has stock in IBM.

Deukmejian reported owning between $10,000 and $100,000 worth of stock in General Electric, in which UC also invests. He could not be reached by The Bee, but commented in a news conference last week that regents will not base their decision on “personal situations.”