--- title: UC Berkeley Says Bill Maher Will Be Speak Despite Student Vote description: The University of California, Berkeley says it will not rescind an invitation to comedian Bill Maher to be the school’s commencement speaker canonical: https://time.com/3547975/bill-maher-uc-berkeley-commencement/ author: Noah Rayman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-30T12:40:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T11:07:05.842Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: UC Berkeley Says Bill Maher Will Be Speak Despite Student Vote og:description: The University of California, Berkeley says it will not rescind an invitation to comedian Bill Maher to be the school’s commencement speaker og:url: https://time.com/3547975/bill-maher-uc-berkeley-commencement/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt86185a69e14154a4/69876361524fc0b882dea227/455020880.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Celebrities Visit "Late Show With David Letterman" - September 8, 2014 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: UC Berkeley Says Bill Maher Will Be Speak Despite Student Vote twitter:description: The University of California, Berkeley says it will not rescind an invitation to comedian Bill Maher to be the school’s commencement speaker twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt86185a69e14154a4/69876361524fc0b882dea227/455020880.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bill Maher Will Be UC Berkeley's Commencement Speaker Despite Student Protest > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with Ally. Ally is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: July 2026. ## Ally: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Ally is a digital financial services company offering online-only banking, including checking and savings accounts, through Ally.com and its mobile apps. Launched in 2009 as an original disruptor in financial services, Ally was built to challenge outdated banking norms with a simpler, more convenient way to bank. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Oct 30, 2014 12:40 PM UTC  Television personality Bill Maher enters the "Late Show With David Letterman" taping at the Ed Sullivan Theater on September 8. Television personality Bill Maher enters the "Late Show With David Letterman" taping at the Ed Sullivan Theater on September 8.Ray Tamarra—WireImage  by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Oct 30, 2014 12:40 PM UTC The University of California, Berkeley says it will not rescind an invitation to comedian Bill Maher to be the school’s commencement speaker, despite a student vote to disinvite him. The student committee in charge of the speaker selection process voted to rescind the HBO host’s invitation on Tuesday amid growing criticism of Maher’s views on religion and particularly Islam. More than 4,000 people [have signed a petition on Change.org](https://www.change.org/p/university-of-california-berkeley-stop-bill-maher-from-speaking-at-uc-berkeley-s-december-graduation) to cancel Maher’s December commencement speech. But on Wednesday, the university [released a statement ](http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2014/10/29/campus-statement-on-commencement-speaker/)saying it will not accept the student vote. “The UC Berkeley administration cannot and will not accept this decision, which appears to have been based solely on Mr. Maher’s opinions and beliefs, which he conveyed through constitutionally protected speech,” the school said. “It should be noted that this decision does not constitute an endorsement of any of Mr. Maher’s prior statements: indeed, the administration’s position on Mr. Maher’s opinions and perspectives is irrelevant in this context, since we fully respect and support his right to express them.” Maher’s response to the controversy? You’ll have to watch the show: > [](https://twitter.com/billmaher/status/527573364932894720) _Read next:_ [_Watch Ben Affleck and Bill Maher Argue About Islam_](http://time.com/3471641/ben-affleck-bill-maher-islam-muslims/?xid=time%5Freadnext) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3547975/bill-maher-uc-berkeley-commencement/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3547975/bill-maher-uc-berkeley-commencement/"},"headline":"Bill Maher Will Be UC Berkeley's Commencement Speaker Despite Student Protest","datePublished":"2014-10-30T12:40:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:07:05.842Z","description":"School says it's not \"an endorsement of any of Mr. Maher’s prior statements\"","url":"https://time.com/3547975/bill-maher-uc-berkeley-commencement/","keywords":["celebrities","Education","HBO","Civil Rights","Islam","free speech"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt86185a69e14154a4/69876361524fc0b882dea227/455020880.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Noah Rayman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt86185a69e14154a4/69876361524fc0b882dea227/455020880.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Celebrities Visit \"Late Show With David Letterman\" - September 8, 2014","caption":"Celebrities Visit \"Late Show With David Letterman\" - September 8, 2014","creditText":"Ray Tamarra—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3547975/bill-maher-uc-berkeley-commencement/","name":"Bill Maher Will Be UC Berkeley's Commencement Speaker Despite Student Protest"}}]}] ```