Janet Napolitano

President of the University of California (2013–2020)

In July 2013, Napolitano announced she would leave her post as Secretary of Homeland Security to become president of the University of California (UC). She was appointed the 20th president by the University of California Board of Regents on July 18, 2013, the first woman to lead the University of California, and began her tenure as president on September 30, 2013. But before Napolitano's confirmation, there were protested by the immigration rights advocates as "they were among dozens of demonstrators who contended that Napolitano was the wrong person to lead an institution with so many students from around the world", and citing a poor record on immigrant rights and a lack of academic credentials. On September 18, 2019, Napolitano announced her resignation as president, effective August 1, 2020.

Among her first acts as president was the allocation of more support for UC's undocumented students, and expanded efforts to diversify the ranks of UC graduate students and post-doctoral researchers. She also initiated an ambitious ongoing plan for the ten-campus system to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025, saying that it was a 'moral imperative' for UC to find solutions to global climate change. In seeking to reduce UC's carbon footprint to zero, Napolitano authorized the university to register as an Electric Service Provider, allowing it to supply energy directly to some of its campuses and medical centers from an 80-MW solar farm in Fresno. In 2017, Napolitano was awarded the Pat Brown Award from the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance for her environmental leadership.

Napolitano has used her tenure as president to encourage more students to pursue public interest careers. She created a fund for fellowships for undergraduate students to offset costs related to public service internships in Sacramento and Washington D.C. She also created the President's Public Service Law Fellowship program, which awards $4.5 million annually to law students at UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine and UCLA to make postgraduate work and summer positions more accessible for students who wish to pursue public interest legal careers but might be forced to seek private sector jobs out of financial need.

As part of her Global Food Initiative, which was launched in 2014, Napolitano committed $3.3 million to help students at the University of California access nutritious food. At the time it was the nation's most comprehensive, systematic plan to tackle the problem of food insecurity.

Napolitano led efforts to combat sexual violence and harassment at the University of California through improvements to the system's policies and procedures. On March 7, 2014 Napolitano wrote a letter to the UC community announcing a new presidential policy prohibiting sexual harassment and violence and providing support for victims and training for faculty, staff and students. She also created a system-wide Title IX office and appointed the first system-wide Title IX coordinator in January 2017.

On October 26, 2017 the University of California announced the establishment of the National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement. Chaired by Napolitano, the center is devoted to research, education and advocacy on issues of free speech and civic engagement.

During Napolitano's time as president of UC, tuition for undergraduates held steady, with one tuition increase of $282 in 2017.

Later career (2020–present)

Napolitano was repeatedly discussed as a contender for appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. Some political commentators also suggested a possible candidacy in the 2016 United States presidential election.

In September 2014, when Attorney General Eric Holder announced his intention to step down, there was speculation that Napolitano might be a candidate for the next United States attorney general. Instead, Loretta Lynch replaced Holder.

Napolitano serves as an advisor on the COVID-19 Technology Task Force, a technology industry coalition founded in March 2020 collaborating on solutions to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

After stepping down as president of the University of California, Napolitano continued to be a UC Berkeley faculty member within the Goldman School of Public Policy. In 2021, she founded and became the director of the Center for Security in Politics.

In May 2022, Napolitano was appointed to serve as a member of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board.

Controversies

In April 2016, Napolitano placed Linda Katehi, the chancellor of the University of California, Davis, on administrative leave following revelations that UC Davis attempted to suppress web searches relating to the UC Davis pepper spray incident, as well as charges of nepotism and allegation of misuse of student funds.

On April 25, 2017 the California State Auditor issued a report that Janet Napolitano and her University of California Office of the President failed to disclose $175 million and engaged in misleading budget practices. After an investigation, the University of California took disciplinary action against Napolitano, issuing a public admonishment. According to an independent report by retired State Supreme Justice Carlos R. Moreno, Napolitano approved a plan that pressured the ten UC campuses to change their survey responses about Napolitano's administration from negative responses to positive ones.

On September 8, 2017 the University of California and Janet Napolitano filed a lawsuit against the United States Federal Government in response to President Donald Trump's decision to ultimately end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA, making her the first former secretary of homeland security to sue the agency she once led over a policy that she created.

In 2020, Janet Napolitano fired 82 University of California, Santa Cruz graduate students for withholding grades in a wildcat strike for a Cost of Living Adjustment to address living conditions. Dismissed students faced loss of tuition remission, health benefits, and living stipends and international students faced loss of student visa status.