May Day Conference on Free Inquiry

The Berkeley Liberty Initiative held a May Day Conference on Free Inquiry on May 1, 2025 at UC Berkeley. The proceedings are now available on Youtube.

8:30 AM Opening Remarks

Benjamin Hermalin (Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, UC Berkeley)

8:40 AM In Defense of Free Inquiry: What Is to Be Done?

Keynote Speaker: Steven Brint (UC Riverside)

9:20 AM What Should We Salvage from the DEl Era?

Ethan Ligon (UC Berkeley), Brian Soucek (UC Davis), Abigail Thompson (UC Davis)

Moderator: Richard Sander (UCLA)

10:10 AM The Escalating Threats to Free Inquiry from the Right

Jonathan Friedman (PEN America), Sean Gailmard (UC Berkeley), Tom Ginsburg (U Chicago)

Moderator: Chris Hoofnagle (UC Berkeley)

11:15 AM Responding to Threats and Restoring Public Trust in Universities

Daniel Diermeier (Vanderbilt University), Alice Dreger (Heterodox Academy), Brian Rosenberg (Harvard GSE)

Moderator: Daniel Sargent (UC Berkeley)