Hunter
03/02/23
A bill that would bar Iowa’s public universities from spending money on diversity, equity and inclusion programs has passed the state House Education Committee.
The Gazette reports the Republican-led legislation was initiated to dismantle what they called “bureaucracies existing at our regent institutions” focused on diversity, equity and inclusion and critical race theory. The bill also would ban the universities from spending any state appropriated money for the upcoming budget year until first filing reports outlining details of their compliance with the bill. And it would compel the campuses to reallocate unspent appropriations for the current budget year away from diversity offices and officers to “merit scholarships for lower-income and middle-income students and to reduce tuition and mandatory fees for resident students.”
One section of the bill allows faculty, staff, students and alumni to sue the universities to prevent violations, and gives the Iowa Attorney General power to compel compliance.
The bill is opposed by the Board of Regents, who says it may make them unable to comply with federal research projects that bring hundreds of millions of dollars. The Regents were asked to answer a list of questions about the DEI departments at the University of Iowa, Iowa State, and the University of Northern Iowa, including number of staff and money budgeted for those departments.
The board says the departments directly support students with disabilities, military affiliated students, multicultural students, women majoring in STEM disciplines, and other historically underrepresented populations. They also support international students in obtaining visas, compliance with federal employment regulations, and adjusting to life on campus.
University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson pushed back at lawmakers who pointed out the high salaries of the DEI executive officers on campus. The Gazette reports she told a hearing that the universities are constantly fighting for talent. She said, “We’re being raided all the time by peer institutions, for faculty, for surgeons, for researchers, and we are always calibrating our salaries according to the national marketplace.”