Brown Says Little New on Higher Ed: Listen to His Wife Instead

The big news in the governor's combined inaugural and state of the state address for higher ed is that there wasn't any big news.  He did reference the current conflict with UC, but did so in the context of all three segments of higher ed. The applause line - which can be read essentially a repeat of his position at the Regents - was "As I've said before, I will not make the students of California the default financiers of our colleges and universities."

You can find the text of the full speech at:
http://www.gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18828  We also provide a video link below to the higher ed remarks.

Most of the speech was devoted to other topics, notably environmental.  The speech itself was not especially memorable.  What was memorable was the introduction by First Lady Anne Gust Brown. If I were the among the powers-that-be at UCOP, I would study what she had to say rather than try and analyze what the governor had to say about higher ed. Her remarks can be read as recounting what she thinks make Jerry Brown tick nowadays. Words like "mind" (lots of praise for the governor's mind), "legacy" (family history was prominent), and "heart" (the governor is good hearted) were much of what she had to say.  So UC statements, communications (including communications with the governor), and what gets said at the January Regents meeting should be geared to these themes.

You can see Anne Gust Brown's introduction below:

You can see the governor's remarks on higher ed at:

You can find the entire inaugural/state of the state address at: