The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. IOWA CITY — Following campus outcry and accusations it’s violating state code, the Iowa Board of Regents has delayed until next month its final vote on a new policy to bar “diversity, equity, and inclusion” and “critical race theory” requirements for majors, minors, and certificates.
The board did so Monday by changing its Wednesday reading of the proposed policy from a “first and final reading” to a “first of two readings,” with the second coming in July. The move came after criticism from unions at the University of Iowa and University of Northern Iowa and a sharp letter from state Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, calling the decision to vote on the issue before hearing public comment “particularly unwise.” “Adding to my concern is the fact that the board proposes to complete this action before the in-person public comment period of the day’s board meeting,” Quirmbach wrote Monday. “Providing a fuller opportunity for public participation would enhance the board’s image as far as showing respect for public opinion.” Quirmbach took issue with the substance of the proposal as well — asserting the board has “no statutory authority” to take the action, which he said would violate Iowa Code.
Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames “While the Legislature has enacted bills in recent years that have addressed diversity, equity, and inclusion in some aspects of university operations, it has repeatedly in these contexts explicitly excluded any related interference in or related authority over academic courses, academic departments, and academic research programs,” Quirmbach wrote. He acknowledged the board’s new policy responds to proposed legislation in the most recent session — House File 269 — which would have required the board establish a policy barring the universities from making students take DEI or CRT courses to satisfy any major, minor, certificate, or general education curricula. But that bill didn’t survive the legislative funnel and “failed to become law,” Quirmbach wrote.
“The Board of Regents has not been granted the legal authority to undertake the proposed policy, and the thrust of recently enacted legislation is that it not do so.” ‘Viewpoint discrimination’ The proposed policy going before the board this week echoes the house file language by prohibiting the campuses from making students take courses with “substantial content that conveys DEI or CRT” to satisfy a major, minor or certificate. It defines DEI as instruction conveying things like implicit bias, cultural appropriation, allyship, transgender ideology, microaggressions, anti-racism, systemic oppression, social justice, gender theory, and racial or sexual privilege. It defines CRT as an academic and legal framework denoting systemic racism as part of American society and embedded in laws, policies and institutions.
Programs across the campuses that would be affected by the new policy include majors or minors like “gender, women’s, and sexuality studies” or “African American studies.” “The content rules disrupt appropriate and relevant academic speech in major, minor and certificate programs, including those in nursing, public health, education, social work, sociology, media studies, women’s & gender studies, political science, criminology, English literature, philosophy and world religions, and number of other disciplines,” UNI’s United Faculty union President Christopher Martin said in a statement. “The proposed DEI and CRT requirement explicitly violates the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, as it endorses viewpoint discrimination and makes a governmental body — the Iowa Board of Regents — the authority on deciding what kinds of speech topics are appropriate for the classroom,” Martin said. ‘Political pressure’ The UI graduate student union known as COGS raised similar issues in its opposition and accused the board of “bending to political pressure from state and federal administrations.” “COGS denounces this blatant attack on academic freedom,” according to COGS’ June 6 letter.
“While it claims to be aimed at protecting student choice, in reality this policy is an attempt to censor public university faculty and undermine the autonomy of academic departments over their curriculum. “It is an unacceptable encroachment on First Amendment rights and the free exchange of ideas vital to a vibrant and healthy academic environment. And it does not reflect values held by the University of Iowa community.” Both COGS and Quirmbach cited portions of Iowa Code protecting intellectual freedom, diversity of thought, and academic integrity.
“The Code of Iowa contains multiple explicit guarantees of academic freedom and freedom of speech,” Quirmbach wrote, urging the board to push its vote on the proposed policy into the fall. “A delay until after the start of the fall semester would allow faculty and students to have a greater voice in a matter that could profoundly affect their academic options,” Quirmbach wrote. “It would also allow the board to give more serious consideration to the possible legal and constitutional vulnerabilities and the risk of legal action against the board.” UI graduate students are planning to protest the board’s meeting Wednesday, urging campus and community members to show up around 4:45 p.m. outside the Levitt Center.
“It should not be up to the Board of Regents — a body of unelected political appointees — to decide what is and is not appropriate for the college classroom,” according to a COGS statement. “Such an overreach threatens the integrity and excellence of our public universities.” Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette. Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com
