Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who has spent nearly 40 years in Congress to become one of its most influential people, announced Monday who she will take over when she leaves office in January: UC Berkeley students.
The Nancy Pelosi Institute for Representative Democracy, which will launch with tens of millions of dollars in donations from Pelosi and other donors, will seek to attract top scholars to campus, cultivate students' ambitions for public service and position itself as a Bay Area counterweight to major university political institutes that frequently attract former members of Congress and White House staff.
Pelosi (D-San Francisco) joins a long tradition of political figures anchored in universities. The Harvard Institute of Politics, founded in 1966 in memory of President Kennedy, is among the best known. USC's Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics is named after the former speaker of the California Assembly. Stanford's Hoover Institution has housed former secretaries of state and national security advisers for decades.
At a university famous for its role in left-wing activism during the free speech movement of the 1960s and protests against the Vietnam War, Pelosi promises to promote a nonpartisan academic effort.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) speaks with UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons.
(Don Feria / For The Times)
“The work of democracy is never done and ensuring its future is our highest calling,” Pelosi said in an interview with The Times. He described the move as an intentional move away from the “partisan political arena” to create a space where Republicans and Democrats – including, potentially, figures aligned with Trump – can deliberate and study the American political tradition.
Pelosi, who made history as the first female speaker of the House, said her mission is to ensure students understand what the founders built, what she believes is now threatened.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) wields the gavel after being sworn in as the first female speaker of the House of Representatives in 2007, as Rep. John A. Boehner looks on.
(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“The separation of powers is the beauty, the exquisite beauty of the Constitution. Of course, that's in disarray right now,” he said, referring to his persistent criticism of President Trump. The drafters of the Constitution “did not want a tyrant, a monarch, a demagogue.”
The institute, housed in UC Berkeley's Charles and Louise Travers Department of Political Science, plans to reach 500 students a year through an eventual dozen or more course offerings open to undergraduates of all majors. In the spring, Pelosi will teach a course on Congress with Berkeley political scientist Eric Schickler, who co-directs the Institute for Government Studies.
The Pelosi Institute will also host two visiting fellows per year, drawn from the fields of politics and public policy, and will support faculty research on policies related to climate change, wealth inequality, electoral reforms that could reduce polarization, criminal justice and whether artificial intelligence can strengthen democracy.
The center will also host an annual forum and establish a public exhibit on Pelosi's congressional career.
The former speaker of the House of Representatives said she envisions the institute as a two-way exchange. He would offer his work experience and political network to Berkeley while “learning from students and faculty about what we should talk about as we move forward” in politics.
Pelosi, a San Francisco Democrat with one of the longest terms in the House and who, over the past decade, has become one of the strongest voices opposing Trump, presents a branding challenge for a campus and academic center with nonpartisan missions.
UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons, while donning a band hat, maintains that the Pelosi Institute will be nonpartisan.
(Don Feria / For The Times)
In an interview, UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons was unequivocal: “Period, this will be a nonpartisan institute. The fact that we are public means the standard is even higher.”
'A move away' from partisan politics
Pelosi said she is largely handing over the keys to running the institute and its programming to Berkeley, while lending her name, congressional experience and contacts to foster its growth. As to whether Trump administration figures could be invited as visiting fellows, Pelosi was cautious, but did not rule it out.
“I'm just not that impressed with this cabinet right now, but that doesn't mean I'm a Republican,” she said. “You never know… We never thought that one of our defenders of democracy would be [former Vice President] Mike Pence until he was.”
The representative who led two impeachments against Trump is building an institution whose credibility depends, in part, on her ability to separate her political opinions from her programming. She recognized the tension.
“I admit that this is a departure from the partisan political arena,” Pelosi said. “I think the value of being associated with an academic institution, rather than just having my own foundation to do things, is that it wouldn't be partisan. I think there's a lot of power in that.”
It is not Pelosi's first foray into academic life. She and her husband, Paul Pelosi, a Georgetown alumnus, established the Paul F. Pelosi Scholarship Initiative at Georgetown's Walsh School of Foreign Service in 2018, which supports students pursuing careers in public service.
But the Berkeley institute will be his most ambitious academic commitment. Of the $50 million fundraising goal, $35 million has been raised. Pelosi declined to say how much she contributed.
Pelosi, 86, first won election to Congress in 1987 and is one of San Francisco's best-known residents. She plans to remain in the city and will commute to Berkeley.
The nonpartisan goal, Lyons acknowledged, will require vigilance in an institution that has strong political associations. “We have to separate Berkeley from the caricature of Berkeley that some people had in mind 60 years ago,” he said.
Scott Straus, chair of UC Berkeley's political science department, said the political balance of the visiting fellows program is open and that “a variety of political perspectives” is “definitely our goal.”
The vision of 'Professor' Pelosi
Schickler, a professor of political science and co-director of the Institute for Government Studies, will co-teach the Congressional course with Pelosi beginning in spring 2027.
“His vision was: This institute will only be successful if it empowers our department to do the things we want to do but otherwise wouldn't have the resources to do,” he said.
Schickler said Pelosi's name has come up repeatedly in his classes as a case study in how to maneuver the body, such as her role in pushing for passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010.
He also noted the inequity that the institute is designed to address: At elite private universities with similar institutes, students benefit from informal access to former public officials and from well-funded internships and employment opportunities.
“In Berkeley,” Schickler said, “the resource limitations and the scale of Berkeley make it a little more challenging.” The university students who will go through the institute, he added, “are not growing up as children of the elites.”
Pelosi said the institute will train advocates, organizers and public servants of various types. “Everything we do in Congress has internal maneuvers,” he said, “but without external mobilization, we have never been able to pass it or save it.”
For her, the institute is also a commitment to legacy. Before retiring from House Democratic leadership in 2022 and saying last year that she would not seek re-election, Pelosi faced pressure from younger Democrats demanding new voices at the top. She views the Berkeley partnership as her investment in the future.
“As I wait to see the incredible ideas and leaders that will emerge from this institute,” Pelosi said, “I think of the words embroidered on Abraham Lincoln's coat: 'One country. One destiny.'”
