Conservative Resigns From UC Regents
S. Stephen Nakashima, a longtime member of the University of California Board of Regents, has decided to resign from the board because of a stroke he suffered eight months ago.
Nakashima’s resignation, which is effective immediately, tilts the political balance of the board, which has been dominated by conservatives for more than a decade.
The 26-member board has three vacancies to be filled by Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat. Several of his previous appointees have indicated that they will try to overturn the university’s ban on affirmative action.
Meanwhile, some regents are trying to fashion a compromise that would stop short of repeal. They argue that a repeal would be merely symbolic because Proposition 209 would continue to forbid the university from considering race in admissions.
Nakashima, 79, was one of the conservative majority who approved UC’s affirmative action ban in 1995. He was appointed to the board by former Gov. George Deukmejian in 1989.
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