Letters: Reagan and a radicalizing UC

Re “Reagan and the fall of UC,” Opinion, May 10

Seth Rosenfeld argues that then-Gov. Ronald Reagan’s opposition to the 1960s radicalization of the University of California campuses — Berkeley in particular — was the main driver in the decline of the UC system. He overlooks that this very radicalization has diminished the value of a UC education.

In the 1950s, when the UC system was at its peak, students were “well groomed and complacent” (to use Rosenfeld’s words). They were in college to learn, not to protest.

The radicalization Reagan opposed continues to worsen, and the UC system continues to lose prestige. Maybe there’s a connection.

Bruce Bates

Coto de Caza

When I was attending Indiana University in the 1960s and paying more than $1,000 in tuition, I thought the UC campuses must have been heaven. There was great weather, and California residents paid no tuition.

When I moved to California in the late 1970s and started teaching high school here, I was shocked at the crummy conditions in the public schools: overcrowded classrooms, outdated textbooks, shabby rooms and a disrespect for teachers that I see started with Reagan as governor.

I was here in the 1980s when then-Gov. George Deukmejian had the community colleges start charging tuition.

Rosenfeld reminds us that the deterioration of California’s great educational system began during my lifetime. For my college-age daughter’s sake, I hope we can rebuild that system, also within my lifetime.

Cheryl Clark

Long Beach

It’s not just the UC system, of which I am an alumnus, that suffered under Reagan. Mental health care, public works, you name it — their weakening under Reagan helped begin the decline of California.

Alan Miller

Santiago, Chile

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