Berkeley Forum

The Berkeley Forum, referred to simply as the Forum, is a prominent, non-partisan student organization at the University of California, Berkeley. Founded in 2012, the Forum hosts debates, panels, and talks with distinguished speakers on various topics; it is modeled after similar organizations at other prestigious universities, like the Oxford Union, Cambridge Union, and Yale Political Union.[1][2][3]

The Berkeley Forum
The logo of the Berkeley Forum
MottoDebates, panels, and talks at the University of California, Berkeley
Formation2012
TypeStudent organization
Location
President
Aparna Iyer
Sponsorships
Haas School of Business, ASUC
Key people
Samy Cherfaoui
Websiteforum.berkeley.edu

The Forum's events typically feature speeches by the speakers, followed by question and answer sessions with the audience. Tickets for Berkeley students, faculty, and staff are always free, while tickets for the general public are free or are available for a small fee.[4]

Notable past events

The Berkeley Forum's first event was a panel debate on the federal fiscal crisis, held in March 2013. The panel featured former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, policy director of the 2012 Romney presidential campaign Lanhee Chen, and the Dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy Henry Brady.[1]

In November 2013, the Forum hosted Creative Commons co-founder and American academic and political activist, Lawrence Lessig. Lessig discussed the role of money in politics, in a speech entitled "Corrupting the Vote."[5] The Forum's largest and most noteworthy event to date was a speech given by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul on March 19, 2014. Senator Paul talked about the issue of government surveillance programs, like that of the NSA.[6][7][8][9][10][11] The event was held at Chevron Auditorium at Berkeley's International House with approximately 400 people in attendance.[12] Notable attendees include former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and Lieutenant Governor of California Gavin Newsom.[13] The next day, the event was featured on the front page of The New York Times.[14][15] In March 2014, the Berkeley Forum also hosted former US Secretary of Energy and Nobel Laureate Steven Chu. Chu spoke about sustainable energy options.[16]

On November 14, 2014, the Berkeley Forum hosted Oakland mayor Jean Quan. Quan spoke about local government and inequality in American cities.[17] Then, on December 10, the Forum hosted American entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Peter Thiel. The event was interrupted by protesters.[18][19][20]

During the spring of 2015 the Forum hosted a number of events with such speakers as Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies Dean Vali Nasr,[21] graphic designer John Maeda, Berkeley mayor Tom Bates,[22] Slovak Minister of Foreign Affairs Miroslav Lajčák,[23] American legal scholar Akhil Amar,[24] Khan Academy founder Salman Khan,[25] Russian State Duma member Ilya Ponomarev,[26] American Civil Liberties Union president Susan Herman, University of California, Berkeley chancellor Nicholas Dirks, UC Berkeley Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Claude Steele,[27] and congressmen John Sarbanes, Jerry McNerney, Jared Huffman, and Mark DeSaulnier.[28] The panel with Dirks and Steele was interrupted by protesters.[27] During the session the organization also hosted a screening of Killswitch.[29]

Later in 2015, the Berkeley Forum also hosted events with US Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson,[30][31] Kabam co-founder and CEO Kevin Chou,[32] Nonhuman Rights Project founder Steven M. Wise,[33] virtual reality journalist Nonny de la Peña,[34] LGBT rights activist Cecilia Chung,[35] immigration policy analyst Alex Nowrasteh, political activist and writer Ron Unz,[36] American journalist and editor-in-chief of the tech hub for Medium Steven Levy,[37] former United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk,[38] Pixar Research Group Lead Tony DeRose,[39] and American political satirist P. J. O'Rourke.[40]

In 2016, the Forum hosted the 16th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Julian Castro;[41] the 17th Director of Central Intelligence, John M. Deutch;[42] the Director of the Center for Bits and Atoms at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Neil Gershenfeld;[43] the 28th Chief Justice of California, Tani Cantil-Sakauye;[44] CEO of Liberty in North Korea, Hannah Song;[45] prominent Norwegian politician Åslaug Haga;[46] United States Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius;[47] United States Senator from Maine, Angus King; comedian Sammy Obeid; Director of Columbia University's Data Science Institute, Jeannette Wing;[48] and Turkish journalist Mustafa Akyol.[49]


Advisory committee

While the Berkeley Forum is a student-run organization, it is supported by a faculty advisory committee, which consists of the following professors:[58]

See also

References
  1. "Robert Reich, former Romney campaign policy director debate federal budget on campus". The Daily Californian. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  2. "History". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  3. "This UC Berkeley Student Is Running The Most Elaborate Student Body Presidential Campaign". BuzzFeed. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  4. "About Us". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  5. "Berkeley Forum hosts Lawrence Lessig talk on money in politics". The Daily Californian. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  6. "Republican Rand Paul fires up a Berkeley crowd". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  7. "Rand Paul: GOP like bad pizza crust". CNN. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  8. "Bluffed, Baffled and Bewildered: How Rand Paul Bilked Berkeley". The Huffington Post. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  9. "Rand Paul Criticizes Obama, Others Over Spying". Associated Press. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  10. "Sen. Rand Paul takes his anti-spying message to UC Berkeley". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  11. "Rand Paul rebukes Obama over spying in Berkeley speech". Fox News. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  12. "Rand Paul discusses domestic spying and privacy rights at Berkeley Forum event". The Daily Californian. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  13. "Rand Paul, Republican presidential hopeful, finds support in Berkeley, of all places". Mercury News. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  14. "Guest Blog: The Story of One of the Best Decisions of My Life". UC Berkeley Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  15. "Rand Paul, Warning About Spying, Faults Obama". The New York Times. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  16. "Steven Chu, former US Secretary of Energy, discusses sustainable energy options". The Daily Californian. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  17. "An Address by Jean Quan". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  18. "Billionaire Investor Peter Thiel Chased Off Stage By Angry Protesters at UC Berkeley". Business Insider. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  19. "A little too much disruption for Peter Thiel, Silicon Valley's iconoclast-in-chief". Fortune. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  20. "A Statement Regarding the Peter Thiel Address". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  21. "An Address by Vali Nasr". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  22. "Mayor Tom Bates speaks on history of Berkeley activism at campus forum". The Daily Californian. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  23. "An Address by Miroslav Lajcak". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  24. "An Address by Akhil Amar". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  25. "Founder of Khan Academy, Salman Khan, speaks at UC Berkeley". The Daily Californian. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  26. "Exiled Russian Duma Member Ilya Ponomarev at the Berkeley Forum". Facebook. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  27. "Dirks, Steele talk shut down amid protest, campus reacts". The Daily Californian. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  28. "Of, By and For the People". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  29. "A Screening of Killswitch". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  30. "A serious mission, but DHS chief is low-key in campus talk". UC Berkeley News Center. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  31. "U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Shouted Down at UC Berkeley". KQED News. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  32. "Kevin Chou at the Berkeley Forum". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  33. "Steven Wise at the Berkeley Forum". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  34. "Berkeley Forum Announces Fall 2015 Event Lineup". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  35. "Cecilia Chung at the Berkeley Forum". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  36. "Debate: The United States Should Open Its Borders". Facebook. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  37. "Steven Levy at the Berkeley Forum". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  38. "Ron Kirk at the Berkeley Forum". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  39. "Pixar Research Group lead Tony DeRose presents at Berkeley Forum". The Daily Californian. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  40. "Politics are Boring: An Address by PJ O'Rourke". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  41. "HUD Secretary Julián Castro at the Berkeley Forum". Terner Center for Housing Innovation. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  42. "Former CIA director John Deutch speaks on campus Tuesday". The Daily Californian. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  43. "An Address by Neil Gerhenfeld". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  44. "CA Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye speaks at Berkeley Forum event". The Daily Californian. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  45. "The Human Crisis of North Korea, An Address by Hannah Song". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  46. "What the Crop Trust taught UC Berkeley students about the future of our food". The Tab. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  47. "US Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius shares diplomacy experience at Berkeley Forum". The Daily Californian. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  48. "Computational Thinking and Problem Solving, An Address by Jeanette Wing". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  49. "Islamic Liberalism: An Oxymoron? An Address by Mustafa Akyol". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  50. "VSauce creator Michael Stevens at the Berkeley Forum". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  51. "Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer for the Kapor Center Ellen Pao at the Berkeley Forum". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  52. "Introducing Berkeley Forum's fall 2019 speaker lineup". The Daily Cal. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  53. "'Competitive as hell': Natalie Coughlin speaks about challenges, perseverance at Berkeley Forum event". The Daily Cal. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  54. "Jaron Lanier, 'founding father' of virtual reality, speaks at Berkeley Forum event". The Daily Cal. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  55. "Berkeley Forum panelists discuss pandemic's impact on Hong Kong protests". The Daily Cal. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  56. "A Fireside Chat with Dr. Anthony Fauci at the Berkeley Forum". Goldman School of Public Policy. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  57. "Dylan O'Brien discusses career, social media presence at Berkeley Forum event". The Daily Cal. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  58. "Advisory Committee". The Berkeley Forum. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
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