UC President Mark Yudof Caught In Resignation Hoax

An website pretending to be that of University of California President Mark Yudof claimed the figurehead had resigned today.

Shortly after the website went live, Yudof wrote on his Twitter: "Imposter website claims I have resigned. Complete nonsense. Reports of my resignation have been greatly exaggerated."

Sections of the sham site link to activist blogs, including Occupy CA, Checking Education and Anti-Capital Projects.

Hoaxsters also sent an e-mail to UC students. It is unclear how many received the email.

Yudof has been the subject of much scrutiny as California students prepare for Thursday's Statewide Day of Action in protest of higher education budget cuts and racial tension within the UC system.

A screenshot of the website and the text of the email follow.

Date: 2010-03-02 Contact: University of California Office of the President Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Statement of UC President Mark Yudof regarding the future of public education in California, March 3, 2010

Today I am publicly announcing my resignation as president of the University of California. A letter to the U.C. community is posted at my website: http://markyudof.com/

I first would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the members of my staff who have worked tirelessly on behalf of public education. It has been a privilege to work with such an exceptional group of individuals. I would also like to thank the Board of Regents for allowing me to serve the University of California and the staff, faculty and students of the entire University system for their dedication, perseverance and commitment to the ideals of excellence in higher education.

There are no doubt many questions about my decision to step down. I would simply refer people to the letter I have posted on my website and urge the public to respect my decision. I should say that this decision was entirely my own and I was not pressured by any individual or
institution.

The crisis we are facing is not only a budget crisis. This much is clear. It is a structural and systemic crisis. It is my hope that outside of my role as president of the U.C. that I will be able to do more to address the systemic nature of the crisis we are all facing.

Respectfully yours,

Mark Yudof, ex-president, University of California

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Comments

[realitytrumpsbull]

11:55 PM on 03/02/2010

Well, when he loses his job for good, it probably won't be in the form of a resignation letter, it'll be a call from Sacramento telling him he's been canned, and that the chain of schools he's been presiding over are being closed due to the fact that the state is on emergency IOU funds and can't well afford to pay attention, much less his salary.

[Jules1955]

08:41 PM on 03/02/2010

My heart leapt when I first read this. Then I nearly dropped to the floor in dispair when I realized it was not true. Sadly, his reign of destruction is not over.

[ucmep]

07:39 PM on 03/02/2010

A student group supporting Yudof's resignation responds:
http://ucmep.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/president-mark-yudof-resigns/

[Mitzy]

04:48 PM on 03/02/2010

As H.L. Mencken remarked upon hearing of Calvin Coolidge's death, "How can they tell?" So too with Mark Yudof, and so too with the rest of the UC systemwide and campus leadership. These are a bunch of overpaid administrative zombies, the walking dead, too frightened to lose their bloated salaries, too frightened to rock the boats, too lazy to go back to the real work of teaching and research. So they exist in suspended animation as their self-important lieutenants wordprocess orgspeak and mission-babble press releases. All of them are so good with words.

[sizgorich]

03:54 AM on 03/04/2010

You understand.

[cloudminder]

03:42 PM on 03/02/2010

he- Mark Yudof- won't take the hint
to whoever did that : that was priceless!! unfortunately too good to be true

Mark Yudof writes: "As always, the remedy for bad speech is good speech. For that reason, we call on all members of the UC community -- students, faculty and staff -- to affirm and defend the values of the University of California. We are speaking out and ask that you do the same whenever, wherever and however you confront behavior that violates the principles and values of this university."

Yet, just a few short months ago,in October 2009, Mark Yudof --with his UCOP crew and Arnold Schwarzenegger --fought against and VETOED whistle blower protections for University of California workers?

Staff and students see, the alumni and taxpayers see the scandalous headlines listed --and the stench of the hypocrisy and corruption at UCOP REEKS..

Mark Yudof forgets that he lobbied heavily for a VETO of "GOOD SPEECH"

http://cloudminder.blogspot.com/