Pulitzer Prize winning Filipino journalist Jose Antonio Vargas appointed by Gov. Newsom to CSU Board of Trustees

By Jo Erlinda Maufit

SACRAMENTO, California – Governor Gavin Newsom has appointed Dr. Elaine E. Batchlor, Carmen Chu, Ana Matosantos and Mark Robinson to the University of California Board of Regents.

Newsom also appointed lawyer and author Leslie Gilbert-Lurie and Filipino-American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and immigration advocate Jose Antonio Vargas to the California State University Board of Trustees.

“These leaders from diverse backgrounds, walks of life and California regions bring a broad swath of expertise and experience to our world-class colleges and universities at a pivotal time for our state,” said Governor Newsom.

“I look forward to continuing our work in partnership with the state’s higher education leaders to expand access to more students, create debt-free pathways, eliminate equity gaps and increase opportunities for the next generation of leaders to achieve their dreams and build a brighter future for our state,” Newsom said.

Vargas, 41, of Berkeley in the Bay Area, was appointed to the California State University Board of Trustees, a vital position but basically honorific with a compensation of $100. He will have to be confirmed by the State Senate like the other appointees.

Vargas immediately thanked Governor Newsom for the appointment.

“Thank you, Governor Gavin Newsom, for appointing me to the Board of Trustees of California State University, the largest four-year public university in the country. CSU’s 23 campuses and off-campus centers enroll nearly 500,000 students. CSUs are home to thousands of immigrant students and students of immigrant families from all backgrounds,” Vargas wrote on his Facebook account.

“As a proud graduate of San Francisco State University— Class of 2004, before there was DACA, when the Dream Act was 3 years old, when there was little vocabulary and support for undocumented students — I am honored, humbled, and excited,” Vargas stated.

Vargas was born in Antipolo, Philippines and raised in Mountain View, California since he was 12 years old. He learned he was undocumented when he was 16 and was trying to secure a driver’s license.

Vargas, who published his memoir “Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen,” was part of The Washington Post team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting in 2008 for coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting online and in print. He was reporter of the newspaper from 2004 to 2009.

Vargas, who has been awarded three honorary doctorate degrees, also worked as city desk reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle from 2000 to 2004, the Philadelphia Daily News and senior contributing editor of The Huffington Post from 2009 to 2010. He wrote, produced, and directed the autobiographical 2013 film Documented, which CNN Films broadcast in June 2014.

Vargas has since founded and became the Key Strategic Consultant of Define American, an immigrant education and advocacy group where he has worked since 2011.

Vargas serves on TheDream.US Advisory Board. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Vargas is not registered to vote.

“As a proud graduate of San Francisco State University — Class of 2004, before there was DACA, when the Dream Act was 3 years old, when there was little vocabulary and support for undocumented students — I am honored, humbled, and excited,” Vargas said in response to the appointment.

The SFSU is part of the California University System governed by the CSU Board of Trustees of which Vargas is now a member.

The CSU Board of Trustees to which Vargas was appointed is a 25-member group that oversees “regulations and policies governing the entire CSU system,” the largest four-year university system in the United States.

The CSU serves nearly a half million students within its 23 campuses and “are home to thousands of immigrant students and students of immigrant families of all backgrounds,” Vargas wrote.

Elaine E. Batchlor, M.D., 64, of Los Angeles, was appointed to the University of California Board of Regents. Batchlor has been Chief Executive Officer at MLK Community Healthcare since 2012. She was Chief Medical Officer at L.A. Care Health Plan from 2004 to 2012, and Vice President and Program Officer at the California Health Care Foundation from 1999 to 2003.

Batchlor is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and serves on the boards of the California Hospital Association, Insure the Uninsured Project, and the Editorial Board of Health Affairs.

Batchlor earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and a Master of Public Health degree from UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health. Her appointment requires the California State Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Batchlor is a Democrat.

Carmen Chu, 44, of San Francisco, was appointed to the University of California Board of Regents. Chu is City Administrator for the City and County of San Francisco. She served as the elected Assessor-Recorder from 2013 to 2021, District 4 Supervisor at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 2007 to 2013 and served in the Mayor’s Office of Public Policy and Finance from 2004 to 2007.

Chu earned a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of California, Berkeley. The position requires Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Chu is a Democrat.

Ana Matosantos, 46, of Sacramento, was appointed to the University of California Board of Regents. Matosantos has been Cabinet Secretary in the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom since 2019. She was President of Matosantos Consulting from 2013 to 2018 and joined the Newsom transition team in 2018.

Matosantos was Director of the California Department of Finance from 2009 to 2013 and Chief Deputy Director for Budgets from 2008 to 2009. She was Deputy Legislative Secretary for Health and Human Services and Veteran Affairs in the Office of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger from 2007 to 2008. She served in several positions at the California Health and Human Services Agency, including Assistant Secretary for Programs and Fiscal Affairs and Associate Secretary for Legislative Affairs from 2004 to 2007.

Matosantos was Human Services Consultant at the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review from 2002 to 2004. She was a Consultant at the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services from 2000 to 2002. She was a California Senate Fellow from 1999 to 2000. She will need confirmation by the State Senate. Matosantos is a Democrat.

Mark Robinson, 57, of Kentfield, was appointed to the University of California Board of Regents. Robinson has been a Partner at Centerview Partners since 2009. Previously, he worked at Merrill Lynch & Co. from 1998 to 2009.

Robinson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Board of the College of Letters and Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, the Board of Trustees of the UC Berkeley Foundation and the Board of the Thacher School. He earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard University. This position requires Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Robinson is registered without party preference.

California State University Board of Trustees

Leslie Gilbert-Lurie, J.D., 62, of Los Angeles, was appointed to the California State University Board of Trustees. Gilbert-Lurie has been a self-employed Author since 2009. She was a Consultant for the formation of Geffen Academy at the University of California, Los Angeles from 2013 to 2014.

Gilbert-Lurie was a Consultant at Walt Disney Television and USA Network from 1995 to 1999. She was Vice President at National Broadcasting Company from 1986 to 1995. Gilbert-Lurie was an Associate at Manatt Phelps, Rothenberg and Tunney from 1985 to 1986. She was a 9^th Circuit Law Clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals from 1984 to 1985.

Gilbert-Lurie earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. She is a National Finance Committee member on the Democratic National Committee. Gilbert-Lurie is a member of the UCLA Foundation Board, the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center Board, and the UCLA School of Law Board of Advisors.

She is co-founder and member of the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Children’s Rights. She is also a member of the International Board of Directors of Human Rights Watch, the Pacific Council on International Policy and the Writers Guild of America. She will need State Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Gilbert-Lurie is a Democrat.