Wilson at UC: the Smell of Presidential Politics

It’s unfortunate that the only time Gov. Pete Wilson seems to exhibit much interest in the affairs of the University of California is when it might promote his personal political agenda, specifically his obvious interest in running for president.

Each time Wilson has appeared at a UC regents meeting during his second term, it has concerned an emotional issue that he had arranged to come before the board, of which he is an ex officio member. The last time, it was his controversial and successful move to abolish affirmative action in university admissions, hiring and contracting. Now the question is whether to extend health and housing benefits to domestic partners of gay UC employees.

The governor used the affirmative action issue to launch an abortive campaign to win the Republican presidential nomination. Now it’s apparent Wilson is battling the gay benefits proposal in an attempt to appeal to the GOP’s conservative wing as he ponders another possible run for the presidency.

Whatever his reason may be, Wilson is wrong on this issue, which is scheduled to go before the regents at a meeting at UCLA today. The system’s governing board should reject his proposal and grant the benefits as a matter of equity, as have many other major private and public universities and American corporations.

This is an administrative issue that should have been left to UC President Richard C. Atkinson. Atkinson was prepared to bring same-sex couples into the benefits program. But with the governor’s encouragement, Regent John Davies, a longtime Wilson associate, insisted that the matter be decided by the board.

Wilson has two major arguments against extending the benefits: that such a decision would ripple through the rest of state government at tremendous cost and that it would undermine the legal status of marriage and consequently family life. Neither is convincing.

More compelling is the fact that Wilson has been taking pains to appease the Christian Coalition and other segments of the GOP’s conservative wing whose support is essential in Republican primaries. They have always been suspicious of Wilson because of his backing of abortion rights and his professed support for gay rights.

There’s nothing wrong with Wilson attempting to fill his political sails. But it is definitely inappropriate to use the University of California and its governing body to that end.