Golden State Today

In a divisive election year and with tensions high on campuses nationwide, the Berkeley Liberty Initiative (BLI) is beginning its next chapter under new program leadership and expanded outreach to students and faculty. The initiative continues to adhere to its founding principles.

Over a decade ago, Frank E. Baxter, a Berkeley Social Sciences alum and former U.S. ambassador to Uruguay, led an effort to ensure that diversity of opinion remained a cornerstone of campus life at UC Berkeley. To achieve this, he established what has since been named the Berkeley Liberty Initiative — a series of lectures and campus activities promoting freedom of thought and diversity of perspective.

As UC Berkeley celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Free Speech Movement, the BLI remains a fundamental part of that marketplace. “Freedom of speech is in the DNA of UC Berkeley,” Baxter said. “The BLI was formed to explore the potential of, and the challenges to, liberty at Berkeley and in the world at large.”

These ideas are particularly important in highly polarized times when differences of opinion affect almost every aspect of our world. College campuses have become gathering places for protests across America over global affairs, domestic politics, and identity.

“What I most appreciate about the BLI is its commitment to our foundational principles of thoughtful, open dialogue,” said Berkeley Social Sciences Dean Raka Ray. “The opportunity to encounter ideas that may be radically different from one’s own is central to our dual mission of teaching and research at UC Berkeley.”

One notable contribution by BLI is the Ambassador Frank E. Baxter Lecture series which invites high-profile leaders to speak at UC Berkeley. This lecture creates a platform for speakers with opposing viewpoints to hold respectful intellectual discourse.

Since its inception, this lecture series has featured diverse speakers covering various topics from California’s cost-of-living issues to discussions on political parties' futures. Notable past lecturers include Jennifer Burns from Stanford University, historian Matthew Continetti, and UCLA economics professor Lee E. Ohanian.

This year's talks included Keith Whittington from Yale Law School discussing "Freedom of Thought and the Struggle to End Slavery" in May. In March, former U.S Secretary Condoleezza Rice engaged in conversation with recently retired UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ on free speech in higher education amid audience protests highlighting their controversial roles.

“The BLI exists to support open exchange of ideas," said Sean Gailmard, professor of political science and BLI’s faculty director. "BLI events focus on open dialogue's importance while presenting perspectives not always featured in academic spaces."

Beyond lectures, students engage in intimate settings discussing these ideas furthering understanding opposing viewpoints deeply.

Looking ahead months or years ahead; plans involve deepening student involvement taking events into classrooms working closely with faculty addressing teaching issues strengthening university connections beyond campus enhancing partnerships organizations advocating free expression like Heterodox Academy American Enterprise Institute Foundation Individual Rights Expression holding collaborative events campus community

UC Berkeley alumni defined current expansion serving task force forming committed alumni group Founders Board helping expand magnify impact second decade remaining force free speech intellectual diversity

“We want help faculty develop students’ skills expressing hearing understanding ideas even potentially controversial ones” Gailmard said “These skills infrastructure open exchange cannot take granted”