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Wednesday, October 5, 2016

The First Reich?

From the SF Chronicle: As the University of California begins the search for a new chancellor at UC Berkeley, a group of faculty on Tuesday identified a candidate they’d love to see get the job: Robert Reich.
Reich — a former U.S. labor secretary under President Bill Clinton who teaches at Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy — is an intellectual of the left and popular with faculty and students alike. As the Occupy movement surged in 2011, Reich delivered a speech about social justice on the Mario Savio steps of Sproul Plaza that drew more than 1,000 students, faculty and staff. He’s since been a visible presence on campus, joining such student efforts as the fight to win higher wages for fast-food workers.
“Robert Reich? That would be really cool to see. I’ve been to protests with him — he shows up and talks about labor violations,” said Iman Sylvain, a doctoral student in microbiology who is one of more than a dozen students, faculty, staff, alumni and foundation representatives serving on the chancellor search committee that meets for the first time Thursday.
The Berkeley Faculty Association, a more activist group of professors than the larger Academic Senate, put forth Reich’s name Tuesday as part of its “Statement of Principles” calling for greater transparency in the chancellor search and highlighting their desire for a new direction in campus leadership...

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