Communist Professor Controversial Again

Angela Davis, whose professed communism became one of the hottest controversies at the University of California in the late 1960s, was named this week to a prestigious professorial chair at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Her appointment has raised the hackles of some legislators, sparking the possibility of another battle mirroring the one surrounding her firing as a lecturer in 1969 by the UC Board of Regents.

Davis, 51, who has been a UC Santa Cruz professor since 1991, was named by UC President Jack Peltason to the Presidential Chair at UC Santa Cruz. She is the third professor at the campus to hold the chair, which comes with a $30,000 annual stipend on top of her regular yearly salary of $67,800.