Cal State Trustees Support Embattled Chairwoman

The California State University Board of Trustees, responding to a disclosure that its Huntington Beach chairwoman had inflated her resume, voiced its “full support” for her Wednesday in Long Beach.

CSU Chairwoman Marianthi K. Lansdale, an Orange County patron of the arts and the wife of a political supporter of Gov. George Deukmejian, has acknowledged that she misstated her academic credentials when under consideration for the gubernatorial appointment in 1985.

She apologized for “any confusion” over her listing of an associate degree from Long Beach City College in 1959 on her resume. She never received the degree.

The disclosures nonetheless drew calls for her resignation from some state senators, as well as a proposal for legislation that would allow the firing of any appointee found to have knowingly given false information during a confirmation hearing.

At least one colleague among the state universities’ trustees had raised questions about Lansdale’s resume misstatement at the time it was disclosed last month, but no objections were raised when the issue came up at the board’s regular meeting Wednesday.

Making reference to the bad publicity over the incident, Trustee William D. Campbell of Newport Beach introduced a measure that was not on the regular agenda. In it, the board said it “expresses its appreciation” for Lansdale and “affirms its support and full confidence for her” as head of the board.

The motion passed unanimously on a voice vote, with little discussion.