Nicholas Dirks, Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, spoke with HuffPost Live at Davos Wednesday on the controversy surrounding comedian Bill Maher’s appearance at a Berkeley graduation ceremony last year.
“I didn’t like, actually, what he said about Islam, but on a free speech campus, you don’t disinvite somebody to come and speak,” Dirks said.
Maher called Islam “the only religion that acts like the mafia” in a debate on his show “Real Time” with actor Ben Affleck and others, sparking the protests.
“We talked to students who found this offensive,” Dirks said. “We said, look, the problem is, where do you draw the line?”
Dirks warned of a “grey zone” that could infringe on the rights of freedom of speech.
“Education is not about making people feel comfortable,” Dirks said.
Below, more updates from the 2015 Davos Annual Meeting:
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“We must produce more with less,” Fan said, specifically saying “more nutrition” is needed.
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Dirks warned of a “grey zone” that could infringe on the rights of freedom of speech.
“Education is not about making people feel comfortable,” Dirks said.
Dirks said U.S. President Barack Obama’s plan for free community college is the right thing to do, though he has questions about how to fund it.
“Education has to be one of the most critical needs of all,” Dirks said.
Wharton School Professor Adam Grant shares some ideas for how we can make employees a lot happier in the workplace.
Nicholas Dirks, Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, joined HuffPost Live at Davos Wednesday to talk about how universities are attempting to expand their global engagement.
Dirks said Berkeley chose to expand by utilizing a nearby campus to “invite global partners to join up with us.” Dirks said the school wanted to create something that would “come back and really enliven” the home campus at Berkeley.
Velshi said the acceptance of climate change has become “intergenerational” and most people — with the exception of some ultra-conservative Republicans — realize a change must be named.
“We have to not talk out of both sides of our mouth,” Velshi said, noting people who want to help fight climate change need to make changes in their own life first and foremost.
