CHANCELLORS TO OPPOSE PROP. 209 : DEPARTING UC LEADERS PREDICT LOSS OF DIVERSITY.

Byline: Associated Press

The departing chancellors of the University of California's two leading campuses say they will break their silence to oppose Proposition 209.

UC Berkeley Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien and UCLA Chancellor Charles Young today plan to join more than 100 educators statewide who last week publicly opposed the Nov. 5 ballot initiative. Also known as the California Civil Rights Initiative, the measure would ban racial and sex preferences in public hiring, contracting and education.

Tien says the measure would have a ``devastating effect on the university, as well as the state.'' He and Young plan to present their written statement at today's off-campus news conference at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Pasadena. It is an orchestrated move, designed to show that they are speaking on their own time.

``The passage of Proposition 209 will unquestionably alter the quality of the educational experience by our respective campuses by radically reducing the extraordinary diversity that we have managed to achieve,'' the statement reads.

Such views pit them against Gov. Pete Wilson and the University of California regents who voted last year to eliminate affirmative action on the nine UC campuses.

Sean Walsh, a spokesman for the governor, responded by saying, ``Citizen Young and citizen Tien have a right to express their opinions as private citizens. But if they take a position on Proposition 209 as chancellors using state resources or state time, that is inappropriate and the university should terminate their illegal campaigning.''

Their decision to go public is significant since UC officials have been under pressure to refrain from taking public stands on affirmative action, one UC official told the San Francisco Chronicle.

``It doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize that, if you went out on a big limb, you'd get fired over it,'' said the official, who asked not to be identified. ``It's a myth that you can truly speak out on your own behalf on something like this.''

However, since both Tien and Young are resigning - some speculate over the affirmative action issue - the chancellors are ``bulletproof,'' the official said.

They are not, however, alone in their dissent.

In simultaneous news conferences held in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego on Thursday, educators - many of them college and university leaders - said the initiative would dismantle programs that attempt to make up for past discrimination.

``I believe that the passage of 209 would be a great step back in our hopes to eliminate discrimination against women and minorities in the education process,'' Glenn T. Seaborg, the former University of California, Berkeley, chancellor said at the time.

Supporters of Proposition 209 disagree, saying that it would ensure equal rights for all Americans seeking jobs, contracts or university admissions at public institutions.