Sep 5, 2016 | By Lawrence Norman Le Blanc | UC San Diego
UC San Francisco Medical Center – William Rutter Center
Attending the annual July meeting of the UC Regents was a rare privilege and an honor. It’s not often when I am able to attend, let alone participate in a very high level discussion of such caliber. On Tuesday evening, we had an informal dinner at Buca Di Beppo with the current Student Regent Marcela Ramirez (Ph.D – UCR) as well as leading members of the UC Student Association (UCSA), UCLA Student Body President, and a few other lucky “StAR” students who were selected to advocate to the Regents for the next two mornings. I was lucky that my Uber showed up afterwards to take me to the hotel despite my iPhone being on 1% battery life and having a cracked-screen. Nothing would have been more ironic than to be stranded in San Francisco at 10 o’clock at night directly in front of the Official Apple Store where the new iPhone model gets released every year!
The next morning at the Regents Meeting, I approached a police barricade and passed a crowd of people outside. Since I was on the list, they let me in past the crowd and I felt like a VIP! Right after I showed up, UC President Janet Napolitano rolled up in a black SUV and was escorted into the meeting by her bodyguards and secret service agents.
The Regents meeting started with public comment from the StARs, and I was nervous when it was my turn to speak. I spoke to the Regents about how vulnerable all 10 UC campuses are in the unfortunate event of an active shooter. I suggested to them that we need campus wide alarm sirens, rooftop microphone sensors that detect shots fired and directly alert police dispatchers, reverse 911 calls and text messaging systems, as well as required active shooter training for all UC students, staff, and faculty. In the wake of recent tragic events that have been unfolding nationally, I could not help but voice how concerned I was about the growing threat of gun violence. This was especially true considering the shooting at UCLA last June where a graduate student shot and killed professor Klug, of whom which condolences were expressed at the meeting when the UCLA chancellor had to report on their campuses’ law enforcement response. From the meeting, UCLA says it has established a task force to analyze their response and see if any improvements can be made. I will be following up with UCSA and the Regents to ensure this task force’s results are extended to all 10 UC campuses.
One of the main issues voiced at the Regents Meeting was the food insecurity that is plaguing our UC students. Our students are literally starving as the cost of attendance and living has become so unaffordable, that students are often unable to feed themselves as food is very expensive.
I found the Regents meeting to be extremely relevant to me as an MBA student. The finance committee was directly reflective of my recent Managerial Accounting class as all 10 UC campus chancellors had to report to the Regents on their Statements of Financial Positions and Income Statements as well as the financial outlook for their campus.
In addition, as I am currently taking MGT 421 Corporate Governance: CEO & Board of Directors, I could not help but notice the relevance of this class and how I directly observed the concepts at play at the Regents meeting. The Regents vote in favor of motions, and they shape university-wide policy based on their committees and actions. The UC System, even as a public university, is run exactly like a corporation – politics, bureaucracy and all.
I met many high ranking officials during the Regents Meeting, especially during the exclusive lunch banquet. Lieutenant Governor & ex-officio regent Gavin Newsom arrived at the meeting. I shook hands with UC President Janet Napolitano and met Regent Eloy Oritz Oakley – the incoming Chancellor of the Community College System of the State of California, and met UC Student Regent Designate Paul Monge Rodriguez, who is currently a J.D. Law Student at UC Berkeley. I had the privilege of sitting next to his very proud mother as he was sworn into his first Regents meeting, and had a delightful conversation with her in Spanish.
Overall, the Regents Meeting was a huge success and I couldn’t help but notice all the company headquarters located in the Bay Area. Aside from UCSF being the “Crown Jewel” of the UC System, I fancied seeing Apple headquarters, Twitter headquarters, Yahoo headquarters, Google Headquarters, and Oracle as well. The Bay area is to “Tech” as Hollywood is to “Entertainment”.
As that one famous song goes: “ I left my heart in San Francisco!”
Lawrence Norman Le Blanc, Electrical Engineer E.I.T. certified & MBA Candidate ’18, is a current graduate student at the Rady School of Management – UC San Diego. He is currently a staff member in the Graduate Admissions office as a student outreach coordinator and serves as board member of the newly formed RadyQ LGBT diversity club.
