[BIFI] Berkeley Initiative for Free Inquiry

Author: Chris Hoofnagle

  • Kennedy on DEI Statements

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    Chris Hoofnagle
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    Harvard Law’s Randall Kennedy writes in the Crimson that DEI statements create a ideological litmus test: By overreaching, by resorting to compulsion, by forcing people to toe a political line, by imposing ideological litmus tests, by incentivizing insincerity, and by creating a circular mode of discourse that is seemingly impervious to self-questioning, the current DEI…

  • Bar-Yoshafat Event Held Without Incident

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    Chris Hoofnagle
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    The Los Angeles Times reports: Three weeks after violence broke out at a private event organized by Jewish student groups at UC Berkeley and protested by pro-Palestinian demonstrators, the speech took place Monday and unfolded without issue.

  • Pamela Paul on Institutional Neutrality

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    Chris Hoofnagle
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    Pamela Paul writes in the New York Times: The temptation for universities to take a moral stand, especially in response to overheated campus sentiment, is understandable. But it’s a trap. When universities make it their mission to do the “right” thing politically, they’re effectively telling large parts of their communities — and the polarized country…

  • Statement on Return Event for Ran Bar-Yoshafat

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    Chris Hoofnagle
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    Executive Committee Statement We write as Berkeley faculty in response to the news that several student groups plan to host the Israeli speaker Ran Bar-Yoshafat for a return visit on Monday, March 18. Our group has no position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but we are committed to defending free expression on campus. The last time…

  • Harvard May Consider Institutional Neutrality

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    Chris Hoofnagle
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    The Harvard Crimson reports: Interim Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 is expected to announce a working group that will consider a policy of institutional neutrality, a move that comes just months after the University became embroiled in controversy over its response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

  • Is Institutional Neutrality Catching On?

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    Chris Hoofnagle
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    The CHE reports: Amid a polarized political climate and debates about the war in Gaza and hot-button social issues like abortion rights, university leaders’ statements about current events have attracted attention and scrutiny. A small but growing number of institutions are responding to the pressure by swearing off such statements altogether.

  • “Faculty for Yale” Formed

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    Chris Hoofnagle
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    The group’s founding commitments are: Of course, not everyone agrees with the diagnosis made by Faculty for Yale. A group of Yale faculty critical of institutional neutrality have penned “A Letter to the Next Yale President” with a different vision for the university.

  • Gutkin: The Hyperbolic Style in American Academe

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    Chris Hoofnagle
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    CHE essayist Len Gutkin writes: …Over the last several years, a curious species of overheated activist prose has proved attractive to scholars across the university. Call it the hyperbolic style in American academe.

  • Columbia Embraces Kalven

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    Chris Hoofnagle
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    Jerry Coyne reports that Columbia University has endorsed the Kalven (institutional neutrality) principles—one of just four campuses to do so.

  • Columbia Adopts Institutional Neutrality, Governance Resolution

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    Chris Hoofnagle
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    In a 68-0 vote, Columbia’s Academic Senate adopted a resolution “Reconfirming our Commitment to the Principles of Academic Freedom and Shared Governance.” The Senate resolved: Columbia’s senate details the debate and discussion surrounding the adoption here. In the Senate minutes, one proponent of the resolution explained academic freedom as both creating rights and responsibilities: Sen.…