CSU Trustee Apologizes in Degree Furor : Education: Lansdale says claim of AA certificate was unintentional and offers to appear before the state senator who demanded her resignation.

The chairwoman of the California State University Board of Trustees on Wednesday issued a formal public apology for misstating her educational credentials and offered to meet with a powerful Senate committee next month to discuss the matter.

“I would like to apologize for any confusion which may have resulted from references in my resume to my attendance at Long Beach City College,” Marianthi Lansdale said in a prepared statement issued Wednesday through the CSU chancellor’s office.

“It was never my intention to mislead anyone regarding my community college record, of which I am quite proud. However, because of questions which have been raised, I will be contacting Sen. (David A.) Roberti’s office to discuss the desirability of meeting with the Senate Rules Committee immediately after the first of the year.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Roberti (D-Los Angeles), who chairs the Rules Committee, said he is willing to meet with Lansdale, a gubernatorial appointee but still believes she should resign.

“I appreciate the apology, but it strikes me that the misinformation was carefully crafted,” Roberti said.

The Times reported Tuesday that Lansdale, 57, a Huntington Beach resident who has been active in Orange County cultural affairs, misstated her educational credentials when she listed an Associate of Arts degree in literature from Long Beach City College in 1959. She gave the information to Gov. George Deukmejian’s office when she was being considered for a gubernatorial appointment to the board in 1985. The false information then was forwarded to the Senate for her confirmation hearing.

However, college records show that Lansdale attended the school for 13 semesters between 1957 and 1967. And she conceded Tuesday that she never received her degree.

In her statement on Wednesday, Lansdale said she attended the college “at night over a number of years while working full time and raising a child. During that time, I amassed a considerable number of academic units in anticipation of transferring to a four-year university and pursuing my baccalaureate degree.”

A spokesman for Deukmejian, who received more than $100,000 in contributions from Lansdale and her husband during his 1982 gubernatorial race, said the governor had no comment.

As chairwoman, Lansdale heads a 24-member board that makes policy decisions for one of the largest public four-year university systems in the world.

There are no educational requirements for the politically appointed positions. Lansdale is one of three members who do not report at least a baccalaureate degree in their educational background, according to Stephen J. MacCarthy, director of public affairs for the CSU chancellor.

The other two are Roland E. Arnall, the chairman and chief executive officer of Long Beach Savings, and Willie J. Stennis, founder and president of the Golden Bird fast-food chicken chain.

A number of trustees contacted Wednesday said they disagreed with Roberti’s call for Lansdale to resign, saying they are willing to overlook the misrepresentations because she has served well on the board. Lansdale has prompted the CSU board to pay more attention to child care on campus and including greater numbers of women in affirmative action hiring programs.

“She’s an outstanding chair, she’s an outstanding success story and she ought to be judged on what she accomplished during her tenure on the board,” said Vice Chairman William D. (Denny) Campbell, a Laguna Beach attorney.

But one trustee--Lee Grissom of San Diego--said the revelations were “embarrassing” and that the trustees have “no choice” but to question Lansdale at the next trustee meeting Jan. 9-10 in Long Beach.

“If this is something that happened, I would like to know more about it,” said Grissom, president of the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce. “We are the (degree) granting agency for 20 universities in this state, and I think there’s a place where you have to make sure that everything is correct, otherwise your integrity is diminished.

“If all the bad things are right, I would suspect she would probably say, ‘Maybe it’s time for me to step aside,’ ” said Grissom. “But if she has a defense for it--and I hope to God she does--then we don’t have to do anything.”

Roberti said Wednesday that, despite reports on Lansdale’s accomplishments as board chairwoman, he is still disturbed by the fact that she supplied inaccurate information to the Rules Committee, which unanimously confirmed her during a brief March 1986 hearing before sending her name to the full Senate for concurrence.

Roberti, who called on Tuesday for Lansdale to step down, said he still feels she should resign.

“That’s still my feeling, but in all fairness, I would like to talk to her,” said Roberti.

Lansdale could not be reached for further comment Wednesday.

She and her husband, Long Beach developer William M. (Bit) Lansdale, have contributed time and money to such Orange County cultural institutions as the Performing Arts Center and the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana. They have also been longtime activists for the Long Beach symphony and the Long Beach Civic Light Opera.