Hardly the Last Word

Since last fall, the University of California's board of regents, which is packed with Governor Reagan conservatives, has been trying to dislodge Angela Davis, 26, from her teaching post in the department of philosophy at U.C.L.A. Twice it has been frustrated: first by a Los Angeles superior court, which held that Miss Davis' membership in the Communist Party was not cause for dismissal, and again by Chancellor Charles Young, who irritated the board in May by recommending that her contract be renewed. Last week the regents had what they obviously hoped would be the last word. After arbitrarily taking the matter out of Young's hands, the regents voted 15 to 6 to oust Davis on the grounds that she failed to exercise "appropriate restraint" in her public speeches.

That decision was not likely to be final. There are outspoken dissenters among the regents themselves. Said Fred Dutton, a liberal regent, of the majority decision. "The Angela Davis charade is a con game to mislead the people of this state." Moreover, a majority of students and faculty members has lined up on Angela's side. U.C.L.A.'s academic senate, composed solely of faculty members, expressing "our shock, our dismay, our rage," voted to defy the regents by taking steps to keep Miss Davis on the faculty.

"The regents' action sets a precedent," said Angela Davis. "Now they'll be able to move right down the line and get rid of everybody who doesn't agree with their politics. I don't separate the struggle for my job from the struggle against political repression in this country." She plans to file suit immediately, challenging the constitutionality of the board's decree under the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech.

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