News

The Berkeley Liberty Initiative invites proposals from UC Berkeley faculty for small grants up to $6,000 to adapt an undergraduate Letters & Science (L&S) course to be taught in the Spring 2026. The grant aims to expose UC Berkeley students to an open exchange of ideas and support their ability to engage constructively across differing viewpoints. More information may be found here.

Current Berkeley undergraduate and graduate students were invited to participate in the workshop: Speaking Across Conflict, part of the BLI Difficult Conversation Series. 

Chancellor Rich Lyon's speaks to the the need of institutional neutrality, viewpoint diversity, and the Berkeley Liberty Initiative in All-In podcast. 

Charlie Kirk’s death represents an attack on the open exchange of ideas that defines university life. Regardless of our political perspectives and disagreements, the use of violent means in pursuit of political ends is intolerable and condemnable. 

Our sincere condolences go out to Mr. Kirk’s family, friends and followers, including the members of the Berkeley Turning Point chapter. We have reached out to offer our support to the members of the chapter, and will remain in close communication with the group to ensure their needs are being met.

— Chancellor Rich Lyons

UC Berkeley hosted the May Day Conference on Free Inquiry sponsored by the Berkeley Liberty Initiative, or BLI, on Thursday. The discussion focused on academic freedom, threats to free inquiry and trust in universities.

Among the speakers and panelists was Sean Gailmard, campus professor in the political science department, who claimed that one theory that explains President Donald Trump’s recent attacks on universities is that faculty tend to lean “further left” than society while Trump is on the right of the political spectrum.

The 2025 Ambassador Frank E. Baxter Lecture was delivered by Dr. Yuval Levin, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. See here for details. 

Political analyst Yuval Levin will discuss how a deeper understanding of the Constitution can help unite Americans in a free society during the Berkeley Liberty Initiative's (BLI) 2025 Ambassador Frank E. Baxter Lecture this week.

Over a decade ago, in the years leading up to UC Berkeley’s 50th anniversary commemoration of the Free Speech Movement, Frank E. Baxter led an effort to ensure that diversity of opinion remained a cornerstone of campus life.