BridgeUSA

Darren Zook, UC Berkeley political science lecturer, always arms himself with his iconic brown fedora and an open mind. On Tuesday, Zook spoke on the intersection of comedy, free speech and democracy at an event hosted by BridgeUSA at UC Berkeley titled “Who’s Laughing Now?”

Progress isn’t made without constructive conversation, and in recent years, that has been lacking in the UC Berkeley community.

Watching the livestream, I thought that the thrust of my piece would be fairly simple. In the wake of the 2020 election, the United States faces unprecedented division. Bipartisanship is good and important. The campus community is hugely left-leaning, and we should be more open to conservative viewpoints — so let’s talk.There is, however, a lot more to the issue of bipartisanship than the simplistic argument I had built up in my mind. I came to see that all three seemingly straightforward prongs of my hypothesis were problematic or debatable in various ways.

On Monday evening, two of the three candidates in the District 3 Berkeley City Council race discussed their platforms during a virtual town hall hosted by BridgeUSA at Berkeley and the ASUC Office of the External Affairs Vice President.

David French, a senior fellow at the National Review Institute, and Dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law Erwin Chemerinsky sat down Wednesday to discuss the current polarization between Republicans and Democrats.

Chancellor Carol Christ released a statement Monday outlining the campus’s next steps in updating its policy regarding free speech events, including the designation of free speech zones and increasing communication between administration and the campus community.

Candidates for the State Assembly District 15 seat redirected their attention away from campaigning for three hours Saturday afternoon in order to address a topic rarely discussed in the realm of politics — empathy.

Conservative radio host Dennis Prager debated with two UC Berkeley students, aiming to challenge audience members to think critically about free speech as part of his “No Safe Spaces” event Tuesday.

Berkeley College Republicans, or BCR, is hosting a Conservative Women in Media panel Thursday, with speakers including Conservative Review TV podcast host Allie Stuckey, founder of Lone Conservative Kassy Dillon and Antonia Okafor, an advocate for students' rights to carry concealed weapons on campuses.