On Monday, an Iowa Senate subcommittee refused to advance a bill that would cut certain funding opportunities for private universities that harbor a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) office. House File 2488 aimed to curb DEI activity at private universities, yet it drew criticism from both sides of the aisle in the Iowa Senate.
The proposed bill would prohibit “private institutions of higher education that participate in the Iowa Tuition Grant program from establishing diversity, equity, and inclusion offices.”
While Republicans in the Senate pushed for the state to address public institutions supporting DEI offices, some legislators got cold feet when it came to private institutions. Sen. Jeff Taylor, R-Sioux Center, defended anti-DEI actions at public institutions, yet thought that similar sanctions on private institutions went too far.
“A lot of the private schools in this state were started by or currently continue to be religious in nature,” said Taylor to Iowa Capital Dispatch.
“The state should not be micromanaging private colleges and universities, whether we agree with how they interpret DEI or not. It’s a violation of freedom of religion, specifically.”
Senator Mike Pike, R-Des Moines, agreed with Taylor by emphasizing that many students rely on Iowa Tuition Grants to attend private universities.
On March 3, the Iowa House passed the bill, which drew reactions of hope and praise from conservative advocates such as the president of Accuracy in Media (AIM), Adam Guillette. The media agency president signaled support for “any effort to remove hateful, divisive DEI from education.” Accuracy in Media has conducted several investigations to uncover DEI efforts at public universities, including Iowa State, despite many attempts to conceal ideological programs.
Yet, with Republicans in Iowa appearing reluctant to take action against DEI offices at private universities, many are left questioning whether oversight at such institutions will be completely relaxed.
CriticalRace.org has identified several DEI offices that are still operating at public universities in Iowa, with little indication that these initiatives are slowing down.
Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, maintains an “Office of DEI Community Training, Education, and Belonging,” which aims to “create an environment where people can be their authentic selves across identities intersectionally.”
Likewise, the Office of Equity and Inclusion at Drake University in Des Moines offers “Self-Guided DEI Learning,” which provides students access to training materials such as “Understanding Race,” “Understanding Allyship,” and “Understanding Implicit Bias.”
While Senator Jeff Taylor said he was willing to allow the bill to pass and let it receive arguments, Democrats on the panel, combined with hesitant Republicans, elected to reject the bill.
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