THE WASHINGTON POST, SUNDAY, JUNE
BERKELEY, Calif.ÛÓDuring this commencement season, the University of California at Berkeley cries out for national attention. It is, perhaps, the best university in the country. It has sustained eminence for years despite a cultural revolution on campus and the open hostility of two governors. So it offers a living example of how to achieve what everybody now agrees the country most needs in educationÛÓexcellence.</br></br>The excellence at Berkeley finds many measures. This university was rated No. 1 in the country in 1970 in a study by the American Council on Education. It also came out first in 1982 in a study by the Conference Board of Associated Research Councils. It is among the top, if not at the top, in the numl>er of Nobel laureates. A survey of Guggenheim fellowships between 1964 and 1981 found that Berkeley, again, led all the rest.</br></br>Even better known, probably, are the threats posed to high quality here. The cultural revolution that challenged ÛÏelitismÛ in so many institutions found its home base here. Berkeley was out front in the demonstrations of the 1960s for ÛÏfree speech,Û ethnic studies and an end to the Vietnam War. The students are still out front when it comes to showing lack of respect Witness the heckling which caused Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick to cancel a lecture in February.</br></br>The contemptuous spirit within the halls of academe found its appropriate external counterpart in the two governors who served between 1966 and 1982. Ronald Reagan imposed budget cuts and caused the teacher-student ratio to go down by 15 percent. David Saxon, the physicist who is stepping down as president of all the California universities to head MIT, says of Reagan: ÛÏHe was hostile to the university. He just didnÛªt like public institutions.Û</br></br>Jerry Brown did nothing to restore finances despite a huge surplus that built up in the state prior to the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978. Nor, despite promises, did he improve the teacher-student ratio. Of him, Saxon says: ÛÏHe wasnÛªt only against public institutions. He was against all institutions.Û