Under pressure from a critical Gov. Pete Wilson, the University of California Board of Regents delayed voting on same-sex partner benefits for students and faculty until November.
Several regents were dismayed at the delay, and suggested that UC President Richard Atkinson simply start instituting the plan. Harvard, Yale and Stanford, among others, already have domestic-partner benefit plans. Last week, the University of Southern California voted to extend health care coverage to gay and lesbian partners of faculty and staff, as well as unmarried heterosexual partners. “These programs turned out to be extremely inexpensive,” said Scott Altman, dean of USC’s law school.