An open letter to the UC Berkeley campus from our Chancellor Robert Birgeneau:
Wednesday, November 7th, 2012
The passage of Proposition 30 in yesterday’s election is an important victory for public education in the State of California. I congratulate Governor Brown for putting Proposition 30 on the ballot and for his faith in the citizens of California to join together to support public higher education and to stem the tide of further funding cuts and tuition increases for this year.
I also want to congratulate our campus community who supported Proposition 30 and most especially our UC Berkeley students. Mary Catherine and I met many of you last evening while we were in the long line at the polling station in Unit 3.
Our students have demonstrated the power of meaningful and effective student activism by stepping up to campaign hard and register students to vote and to influence public perception of the importance of public higher education. Our ASUC and GA leaders, particularly Presidents Connor Landgraf and Bahar Navab, have shown outstanding leadership, working tirelessly to provide opportunities for Berkeley students to dialogue, to become informed on important issues and to communicate their views to others in the broader community.
While Proposition 30 is not a panacea and we continue to face serious budgetary challenges, it represents a very welcome respite from the recent spate of deep budget cuts. We look forward to having a firm budget for the remainder of this academic year. Although we will continue to face challenges as the costs of higher education inevitably rise, we have a more stable budget environment in which to focus our efforts on strategies for strengthening Access and Excellence at UC Berkeley in the coming year and beyond.
Yours sincerely,
Robert J. Birgeneau
Chancellor
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