Where We Began
Origins
When Heterodox Academy launched its Campus Community initiative in 2023, faculty and staff at three University of California campuses formed affiliated chapters: HxA UCLA , HxA Berkeley , and CIVIC . These groups organized events and community meetings that brought together members committed to fostering a campus culture more supportive of free speech, open inquiry, and constructive disagreement.
All three campus communities remain active today, and Heterodox Academy continues to be a close partner of the heterodox community across the University of California.
Building a UC-Wide Network
History
A series of faculty gatherings transformed three campus communities into a system-wide organization spanning all ten UC campuses.
A system-wide conversation begins
HxA UCLA convened a small meeting with members of the heterodox community from across the University of California. The goal was to bring faculty together to discuss issues affecting academic freedom and free inquiry across the UC campuses.
A shared vision takes shape
Faculty from eight of the ten UC campuses reconvened for the May Day Conference on Free Inquiry . These discussions helped crystallize a shared vision for a UC-wide organization, modeled in part on the Berkeley Initiative for Free Inquiry (BIFI) .
UCIFI is formally established
Under the leadership of a small organizing group—including Richard Sander, Steven Brint, Will Fithian, Chris Hoofnagle, Ethan Ligon, and Smriti Mehta—the University of California Initiative for Free Inquiry was formally established. UCIFI now has members at all ten UC campuses, and momentum for its work continues to grow.
What Guides Us
Mission
UCIFI is a faculty-led, system-wide network dedicated to advancing free inquiry and academic freedom across the University of California. UCIFI seeks to promote policies that support academic freedom and help create a university culture in which intellectual diversity is respected, open debate is encouraged, and scholars and students alike can pursue truth without fear of institutional or social sanction.