The UC Regents recently voted to extend death-related retirement benefits to the domestic partners of UC employees. According to the UC Office of the President, the new policy stipulates that if a UC employee is a member of the UC retirement plan, his or her domestic partner will receive benefits equal to those given to the spouses of married UC employees.

The Guardian applauds the regents’ decision and supports the university’s recognition of domestic partnerships. Prior to this decision, only traditional families could receive spousal benefits from the university, perhaps preventing high-quality faculty and staff from joining the UC system. Furthermore, the to-date exclusion of domestic partners revealed an inability to accept social change that simply should not be tolerated within the policies of a public institution of higher learning.

Furthermore, the regents passed the move to extend health coverage to domestic partners of either sex in 1997 by only one vote, 13-12, over the opposition of then-governor and board member Pete Wilson. The ease with which retirement benefits were extended to domestic partners last week shows the regents’ and California’s social progression in just five years, a progression that the Guardian commends.