Figurehead of university in California, say (6)
I believe the answer is:
statue
'figurehead' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'university in california say' is the wordplay.
'university' becomes 'u' (abbreviation for university).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'california say' becomes 'state' (california is a kind of state).
'u' going into 'state' is 'STATUE'.
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for statue that I've seen before include "Carved or cast figure" , "Figurative sculpture" , "Three-dimensional work of art" , "A carved or moulded effigy" , "Still work" .)