University of Iowa president: ‘I can't imagine getting rid of the word diversity’

After an hour spent updating lawmakers on ways their campuses are serving students through improved graduation and retention rates, strengthening the economy through workforce development programs, and bettering the world through high-impact research, presidents of Iowa’s three public universities on Monday fielded questions — including about cuts to their diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

To Republican Rep. Brooke Boden’s “deep concern” over the University of Iowa’s lack of compliance with DEI legislation and apparent renaming of offices and programs that continue to do work she and her colleagues find offensive and wasteful, UI President Barbara Wilson said her administration is doing its best.

“We feel as though we have complied with the law, and we're working really closely to reduce the number of personnel that we have,” Wilson said. “We’ve closed offices, we've gotten rid of every DEI committee in every department across every college. We have retained a central office, but we've eliminated about 11 positions in that central office, and it's focused primarily on civil rights, access and opportunity.”

Pressing Wilson on her compliance assertion, Boden said, “It sure doesn’t seem like it on the internet, which is where a lot of people reside.”

Citing President Donald Trump’s executive order “ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs,” Boden said UI compliance or lack thereof could have far-reaching implications.

“As you know, we have hundreds of millions of dollars of federal money coming down the pike, that if we're not willing to comply, that we're going to miss out on in the state of Iowa,” she said. “So this is a is a major concern for me to still be seeing so much of that out there.”

Acknowledging Iowa’s changing demographics and growing number of high school graduates who will be the first in their family to go to college, another lawmaker asked how Iowa’s universities are continuing to serve them, knowing that “a lot of those first-generation programs sat within our DEI offices.”

All three of the campuses said they’re continuing to do that student-success-centered work — which has always motivated them.

“Actually, many of the programs around student success aren't in a DEI office, and never were,” said Wilson, who then took a step back to address the larger language pariah that the words diversity, equity, and inclusion have become.

“I understand that these are politically charged words now, and most people don't understand equity or inclusion or they put different ways of explaining those terms,” Wilson said. “But for us, diversity still matters. And when I say the word diversity, I don't mean just race or gender or sexuality. I'm talking about first-gen students, students from rural communities, students who have different religious backgrounds, students who are in the ROTC, our military veteran students.

“All of those types of students reflect diversity of experience at the University of Iowa. So I can't imagine getting rid of the word diversity, you all. Now, if you tell me I need to, I will.”

But, she said, the UI mission and spirit continues to be welcoming of students from all backgrounds, from all regions, from all viewpoints and experiences.

“What we say is, you're a Hawkeye now. Come in, and we're going to do what we have to do to make sure you get to graduation. That's our commitment,” Wilson said. “We don't have special programs or special leverages for certain students and not others. We're trying to meet students where they are and ensure they’re successful at the University of Iowa and find diversity in the broadest possible terms.”

With that broad definition of diversity in mind, Wilson said, “We haven't really gotten rid of anything.”

“We're continuing to talk about this — being careful of our language — but the ultimate goal is to support students from all different backgrounds and tell them they all belong in Iowa,” she said.

Hearing that response, Boden asked Board of Regents President Sherry Bates to come to the table to answer questions.

“Knowing that we have non-compliance … and we're looking at funding the schools, and to me funding comes with following the law, how do we handle these non-compliances?” Boden asked. “What's going to happen here? Because I fully think that we've had plenty of time to pull this stuff off of the internet. I'm looking to you for some answers.”

Bates affirmed the directive is to look at all the university websites and said, “That will be impressed upon all three universities even more.

“If there's a question, pull it off, look at it, decide if it is DEI,” Bates said. “If it's not, then put it back.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

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