Santa Monica Mts. : Committee OKs Soka Bill
Soka University, in the mountains above Malibu, could be forced to change its name under legislation approved Tuesday by the state Assembly Committee on Higher Education.
Under the bill, a business would be barred from using the terms college or university unless it is a public institution of higher learning; a school accredited by the state or the Western Assn. of Schools and Colleges, or a nonprofit religious institution whose course of instruction is limited to religious principles.
Introduced by Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica), the measure was approved 10 to 0 and sent to the Ways and Means Committee. A Hayden aide acknowledged that the bill is aimed at Soka, which has plans for expansion that the lawmaker vigorously opposes.
The Japan-based Soka University uses its 500-acre campus in the Santa Monica Mountains near Calabasas to offer English classes to about 150 Japanese students. Soka, which is not accredited, plans to build a 4,400-student campus in the mountains.
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