Lawmakers Call On UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi To Resign
UC DAVIS (CBS13) — Two more lawmakers are calling for UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi to step down after a report the school spent $175,000 trying to erase bad publicity from the Internet.
Assemblymen Mike Gatto and Freddi Rodriguez both took to Twitter on Thursday, expressing their frustration and calling for Katehi's resignation.
"Having the chancellor on a board of a for-profit textbook company when our students are the ones purchasing those textbooks, that was bad enough, but then to hear the university spent hundreds of thousands on a PR firm—money that could be spent in the classroom—that was the last straw," Gatto said.
Calls for Katehi's resignation started after student protesters were doused with pepper spray in 2011 and got stronger earlier this year with revelations she was on the board of two for-profit companies, including a textbook publisher.
Now with the revelation that the university invested $175,000 to get rid of bad press, Gatto joins a growing list of lawmakers calling for Katehi's resignation.
UC Davis released a statement on Thursday suggesting the public relations strategy was to preserve the work of the university and not let it be overshadowed by a campus crisis.
In Emails on Thursday Night, UC Davis Protesters told CBS 13 they plan on leaving Mrak Hall at Noon on Friday.
This article was updated to add information about emails from UC Davis Protesters planning to end the protest on Friday.