Assembly Passes Bill to Hinder Soka’s Plans

The state Assembly on Wednesday approved and sent to the Senate legislation intended to make it difficult for Soka University in Calabasas to describe itself as a university.

The bill was introduced last year by Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica), a critic of Soka’s plans to expand from a 100-student English-language program for Japanese students to a 4,400-student liberal arts campus.

The legislation, in part, grew out of a dispute over Soka’s plans to expand its campus. Those plans are opposed by state and federal park authorities who want to acquire the school’s land in the Santa Monica Mountains above Malibu.

Hayden sought the measure after the state Council for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education declared “that the current operations of Soka University of Los Angeles is not in our jurisdiction.” He said the measure would prohibit a business from calling itself a university or college unless it is an institution of higher education as defined by the council.

After Wednesday’s Assembly action, Hayden said: “Soka has shown itself to be a mysterious but powerful outfit, willing to pay big money for the most effective lobbyists. But today, the Legislature stood up to this special interest.”

Soka officials have disputed Hayden’s view, describing Soka as a nonprofit business that conducts research and administers English-language courses for Soka University of Japan, which is accredited in that country.