He has good company in former Harvard president Lawrence Summers. The UC Regents had invited Summers to speak at their upcoming board meeting--but they rescinded the invitation after women faculty at UC Davis circulated a petition opposing Summers' visit:

UCD professor Maureen Stanton, one of the petition organizers, was delighted by news of the change this morning, saying it's "a move in the right direction."

"UC has an enormous historical commitment to diversity within its faculty ranks, but still has a long way to go before our faculty adequately represent the diversity of our constituency, the people of California," said Stanton, professor and chairwoman of the section of evolution and ecology.

When Stanton heard about the initial invitation to Summers, she was "stunned."

"I was appalled that someone articulating that point of view would be invited by the regents," she said. "This is a symbolic invitation and a symbolic measure that I believe sends the wrong message about the University of California and its cultural principles."

Stanton and other women on campus began circulating a petition Tuesday night by e-mail to colleagues at several campuses in the UC system. In two days, they had collected more than 150 signatures.

"None of us go looking for a fight," Stanton said. "We were just deeply offended."

The petition states that "this invitation is not only misguided but inappropriate at a time when the university is searching for a new president and continues to build and diversify its community."

"The regents represent the leadership and public face of the University of California," the petition states. "Inviting a keynote speaker who has come to symbolize gender and racial prejudice in academia conveys the wrong message to the university community and to the people of California. It is our fervent hope that the regents will rescind this invitation and seek advice elsewhere."