May Day Conference on Free Inquiry
On May 1, 2025, the group that would eventually form UCIFI convened for a conference to discuss pressing issues related to free inquiry, including DEI, political threats to academic freedom, and restoring trust in higher education.
The conference was hosted at UC Berkeley and sponsored by the Berkeley Liberty Initiative.
Keynote Address: In Defense of Free Inquiry: What Is to Be Done?
Speaker: Steven Brint (UC Riverside)
Welcome and opening remarks by Benjamin Hermalin (Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, UC Berkeley) and Sean Gailmard (Executive Director, Berkeley Liberty Initiative)
Session I: What Should We Salvage from the DEI Era?
Panelists: Ethan Ligon (UC Berkeley), Brian Soucek (UC Davis), Abigail Thompson (UC Davis)
Moderator: Richard Sander (UCLA)
Session II: The Escalating Political Threats to Free Inquiry
Panelists: Jonathan Friedman (PEN America), Sean Gailmard (UC Berkeley), and Tom Ginsburg (University of Chicago)
Moderator: Chris Hoofnagle (UC Berkeley)
Session III: Responding to the Threats and Restoring Public Trust in Universities
Panelists: Daniel Diermeier (Vanderbilt University), Alice Dreger (Heterodox Academy), and Brian Rosenberg (Harvard GSE)
Moderator: Daniel Sargent (UC Berkeley)