The University of California, Berkeley announced this week that it will name a new institute focused on American democracy and civic leadership after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Berkeley officials said the former representative, who served nearly four decades for San Francisco, will lend her name to the institute. The project has already received $35 million in donations from undisclosed sources, with Pelosi stating she will contribute personally.
Chancellor Richard Lyons said the university is not aligning the institute with Pelosi's politics. He noted that the UC system maintains a policy against political indoctrination in the classroom. The institute's mission centers on training the next generation of civic leaders.
Pelosi described her new role as almost an emancipation from partisanship. She plans to co-teach a course with a political science professor and said Republican leaders will be invited to speak.
