CSU Board Head Admits Fudging on AA Degree

SACRAMENTO —  The chairwoman of the California State University trustees misstated her academic credentials when she told the governor’s office and the state Senate that she had received an Associate of Arts degree in literature from Long Beach City College in 1959, she acknowledged Tuesday.

Marianthi Lansdale--a Huntington Beach resident and Orange County patron of the arts who is married to developer William M. Lansdale, a generous political supporter of Gov. George Deukmejian--conceded to The Times that she had never received her community college degree, although she listed the degree and a 1959 graduation date when the governor nominated her to the prestigious board in 1985. She was unanimously confirmed by the state Senate for a term that expires in March, 1993.

As chairwoman, Lansdale heads a 24-member board charged with making policy decisions for one of the largest public four-year university systems in the world. Lansdale selects colleagues to serve on special committees, chairs board meetings six times a year and helps set the tone in salary negotiations with the system’s 19,200 faculty members. The board chair is rotated among members, who elect the presiding officer for a one-year term.

Long Beach City College records show that Lansdale attended the school for 13 semesters between 1957 and 1967--eight years past the date of her claimed graduation. Lansdale said she took night courses because she was a working mother struggling to raise a child and put her first husband through college.

Although Lansdale said she accumulated the 60 credits needed for the AA degree, she acknowledged Tuesday that she never received the formal degree because she lacked a required course in either geography or history. The 1959 graduation date is also included on the current official CSU information sheet for Lansdale.

“You know what? I never thought anybody would write a story or cared or it mattered,” she said Tuesday. “It wasn’t like I lied about a traffic infraction or a felony or a fraud. I’m just a good solid citizen, and I never thought I would be living in a fishbowl.”

Lansdale, 57, said Tuesday that she “doesn’t care” that she misstated her educational background, emphasizing that she received credits “equivalent” to an AA degree. She also blamed the misrepresentation on her part to confusion and the fact that she is unaccustomed to filling out application forms.

“People who read your article don’t even care. You know that?” she said. “I think they ought to be proud a working mother attended and found the time and ability to attend school at night.”

But Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) said Tuesday that Lansdale should step down. Had the Senate known that she misrepresented her educational credentials, she would not have been confirmed, he said.

“It goes to the heart and substance of what she does on the board,” he said. “The board . . . in effect sets the value of the degree and to falsify your own degree information is intolerable.”

A spokesman for Deukmejian said Tuesday the governor’s office was checking into whether Lansdale’s education claims were subjected to a background check before being sent on to the Senate as part of the confirmation hearings.

Lansdale told The Times early Tuesday that she would release her Long Beach City College transcripts to clear up any questions about her community college education, but she changed her mind later in the day and said she would keep her records confidential.

Lansdale was appointed to the state university board after she and her husband, through their Long Beach development company, gave more than $95,000 and the use of a corporate aircraft to Deukmejian’s 1982 campaign, public records show. Board members do not receive a salary, but are paid $100 a day and expenses for meetings.

In an interview last week, Lansdale acknowledged that her nomination to the CSU board in 1985 surprised her, especially since she had not attended a four-year institution and did not have a bachelor’s degree. She also said that her political activity was a factor in prompting the governor to make the selection.

“We worked diligently and hard in raising money for the governor,” Lansdale said. “This is his way of saying, ‘You did a good job and this is a prestigious appointment and you’re going to do a good job.’ That’s just the ABCs of the political world.”

She added: “If I were governor, would I appoint somebody out of the phone book? Heck no. I would say, ‘This person has been strongly supportive of me and I know them, know them to be honest people.’ ”

Lansdale and her husband also have given generously to many civic and cultural endeavors in Long Beach and Orange County. They are active in the Long Beach symphony, the Long Beach Civic Light Opera, the Orange County Performing Arts Center and the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana. She is also active in cultural affairs in Palm Springs, where she maintains a second residence and is registered to vote.

CSU Chancellor W. Ann Reynolds said Tuesday that the lack of a college degree has not dimmed Lansdale’s enthusiasm or ability to serve as a trustee, for which there is no educational requirement. She said the misrepresentations by Lansdale “do not bother me” and that trustees cannot be held to the same standards as university employees, who can be fired if found to be falsifying academic credentials.

Times staff writer Mark Gladstone contributed to this story.