Governor Backs Lansdale as CSU Trustee : Education: George Deukmejian acknowledges that the California State University trustee made a ‘bad mistake’ in misleading officials about her college credentials but praises her performance. Two state senators remain unappeased.

SAN DIEGO —  Gov. George Deukmejian said Thursday that he would not ask the chairwoman of the California State University trustees to resign, although she made a “bad mistake” by misrepresenting her educational background.

In a press conference here, Deukmejian said Huntington Beach resident Marianthi K. Lansdale has apologized to him for claiming a community college degree she did not have when the governor first nominated her to the prestigious CSU Board of Trustees nearly four years ago. The claim was also forwarded to the state Senate, which confirmed her nomination for a term that expires in March, 1993.

But the governor praised Lansdale for doing an “outstanding job” as a trustee and added: “At the present time, I am not intending to ask her to resign.”

“From all accounts, she has been doing a superb job,” Deukmejian said in his first comments on the matter. “She works very hard at it. She has been very effective. And she is a real fine representative for the system.

“But she shouldn’t have said what she said,” he added. “She has acknowledged that. She regrets it. It was a bad mistake.”

Lansdale admitted to The Times last month that she never received a 1959 associate of arts degree from Long Beach City College as she claimed at the time of her 1985 gubernatorial appointment.

Although Lansdale said she accumulated the 60 credits “equivalent” for an the associate of arts degree, she conceded that she lacked a required course in either geography or history to receive her formal diploma.

Lansdale’s admission caused such a furor that she issued a public apology and offered to give a personal explanation in January to the Senate Rules Committee, which is responsible for confirming gubernatorial appointments.

Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles), who is chairman of the Rules Committee, said Lansdale should resign. The controversy also inspired proposed legislation by Sen. Gary K. Hart (D-Santa Barbara) to empower the Senate to remove any current or future gubernatorial appointee caught lying about his educational background.

Meanwhile, CSU trustees last week passed a resolution expressing their “full support” of Lansdale, despite the credential flap. Deukmejian kept mum until Thursday, when he met with reporters before touring the Mexican border.

“There is no question she made a mistake, and she has acknowledged that publicly and to me personally,” Deukmejian said. “She apparently had sufficient credits to earn a degree, but she did not actually have a degree.

“But she did represent that she had it and it was a big mistake for her to make.

“On the other hand, she has done an outstanding job as a member of the Board of Trustees to such an extent that her fellow members of that board have selected her to be the chairperson, and she has been serving in that capacity.”

Lansdale and her husband, Long Beach developer William M. Lansdale, gave Deukmejian more than $100,000 in money and airplane use during the 1982 gubernatorial campaign.

As chairwoman, Lansdale heads a 24-member volunteer board charged with making policy for one of the largest public four-year university systems in the world. The CSU system encompasses 20 campuses, enrolls 372,000 students and has a current budget of about $2 billion.

Deukmejian also referred Thursday to Lansdale’s offer to meet with Roberti and other powerful senators. “I don’t know what the outcome of that will be,” he said.

A spokesman for Roberti said Wednesday that the senator was arranging for a meeting with Lansdale, who was out of the country and could not be reached for comment.