UC Berkeley Launches Nancy Pelosi Institute to ‘Honor’ Former Speaker’s Legacy — Yet Insists It Is Nonpartisan * The Gateway Pundit * by Ben Kew
Pelosi attacks Trump as a ‘vile creature’
The University of California, Berkeley is launching a new institute named after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
According to its website, the institute will “honor and carry on the legacy of Speaker Pelosi, the first Californian and first woman to serve as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.”
Despite that mission statement, the institute also describes itself as nonpartisan.
Pelosi, who will leave Congress in January, is expected to teach courses, help raise money for the institute and contribute financially herself.
The university said it has already secured $35 million in donations for the project but did not identify the donors.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and UC Berkeley are joining forces to launch the Nancy Pelosi Institute for Representative Democracy, a new nonpartisan institute dedicated to strengthening American democracy.
Launching in January 2027, the institute will bring together…
— UC Berkeley (@UCBerkeley) June 29, 2026
Berkeley officials said the institute will initially offer undergraduate students a certificate program in public leadership, with plans to expand into a full major or minor.
The program will also include visiting fellows, research opportunities and a course co-taught by Pelosi and political science professor Eric Schickler.
Pelosi insisted the institute would rise above partisan politics.
“This is about civics, it’s about the vision of our founders, it’s about democracy,” she said, adding that the institute represents “almost an emancipation from partisanship.”
Berkeley Chancellor Richard Lyons likewise rejected suggestions that naming an institute after one of the Democratic Party’s most recognizable political figures amounted to political alignment.
The announcement comes as Berkeley remains under scrutiny from the Trump administration.
Federal agencies have launched investigations into allegations of antisemitism and the university’s handling of campus protests.
However, the administration has not filed suit against Berkeley, as it has against Harvard and UCLA.
Pelosi said she expects Republicans to be invited to speak at the institute but suggested invitations would be limited to those who oppose Donald Trump.
Among them, she said, would be individuals she considers “patriotic, who share the vision of our founders, honor their oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution, and believe in the diversity of America as our strength and our power.”
The institute joins a growing number of civics and public policy centers opening at universities across the country.
This institute not the only thing named after Pelosi ahead of her retirement.
Last year, President Trump confirmed he would be selling the Nancy Pelosi federal building in San Francisco due to soaring maintenance costs.
Ben Kew is a writer and editor. Originally from the UK, he moved to the U.S. to cover Congress for Breitbart News and has since gone on to editorial roles at Human Events, Townhall Media, and Americano Media. He has also written for The Epoch Times, The Western Journal, and The Spectator.
You can email Ben Kew here, and read more of Ben Kew's articles here.
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