Regents target ‘indoctrination,’ say ‘I don't want any of the DEI, CRT, woke left stuff’

IOWA CITY — In a politically-charged higher education climate — including in Iowa, where students are just weeks from returning to campuses under fire for undercover videos attempting to expose gaps in compliance with DEI laws — the Board of Regents on Tuesday approved new policies aimed at avoiding “indoctrination.”

“I do think this is the right path,” regent Robert Cramer said of the board’s decision to drop entirely its consideration of a new policy that would have prohibited Iowa’s public universities from making students take courses with “substantial” diversity, equity, and inclusion or critical race theory content to satisfy any major, minor, or certificate.

Instead — after hearing broad campus feedback, including criticism from faculty, staff, and students — the board on Tuesday updated its existing academic freedom and syllabi posting policies by laying out explicit expectations that “instruction should be presented in a manner that fosters critical thinking and avoids indoctrination of one perspective.”

“Faculty are expected to uphold academic integrity, encourage open and respectful inquiry, and present coursework in a way that reflects the range of scholarly views and ongoing debate in the field,” according to the board’s updated academic freedom policy, which long has afforded faculty academic freedom in their classroom and research.

Additionally, the updated policy now requires the universities to adopt policies and procedures ensuring “all coursework meets these expectations” — and compelling the board at least every two years to audit the university policies, procedures, and compliance.

Under the board’s syllabi-posting policy, regents on Tuesday added a clause stating explicitly that student grades “must reflect their mastery of course content and skills, not their agreement or disagreement with particular viewpoints expressed during instruction or in their work.”

“I don't want any of the DEI, CRT, woke left stuff being taught in any of our classes,” Cramer said in reference to the previous proposed policy the board decided not to adopt. “But I understand the difficulty of trying, from the outside, to dictate what's being taught. And I think we do believe in academic freedom and, of course, freedom of speech. So I think addressing how things are taught is the right path.”

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Regent: DEI, CRT don’t help ‘minorities or nonminority students’

Addressing his comment, the previous proposal, and the undercurrent of Tuesday’s approved policy changes — in addition to recent board directives, bills, and new laws banning DEI-related staffing, spending, training, and other activities on the campuses — Cramer said he thinks the board should explain “why.”

“Why do I think the DEI, CRT stuff shouldn't be taught is because I don't believe it helps either minorities or nonminority students,” he said. “Minority students need to know that they're there by merit. They deserve to be there. And some nonminority students might be left out. There might be reverse discrimination from those policies.”

Cramer took issue with the difference between equal opportunity and equity, saying, “I think everyone on the board supports equal opportunity,” but “equity says trying to have equal results.”

“It means trying to treat students differently based on their preferred status to try to get the numbers at the end to be the same,” he said.

To the systemic argument that America’s racist past continues to impact certain groups today, Cramer said, “We’ve got to look at individuals.”

“And that's what merit is all about, is just looking at individuals and trying to help them succeed,” he said. “No matter where they come from, no matter what their race is, no matter all these different things, we're going to treat them all the same and give them that equal chance. That's why I think we push so hard to get rid of some of these philosophies that divide us, and instead talk about how we can unify and help students.”

Students, faculty, staff can take complaints to Regents

Before approving the policy updates Tuesday, regent David Barker proposed an additional amendment focused on compliance and enforcement that read, “Students shall have access to a clear, confidential, and timely process to report concerns that instruction is not meeting these standards. Institutions must investigate complaints promptly, report complaints to the board, and take corrective action when warranted.”

But other regents, staff, and university personnel expressed concern with the language — given academic grievance processes already in place — and voted it down.

“We ask our faculty to, at the beginning of the semester in their syllabus, lay out the process for students to file complaints,” UI Provost Kevin Kregel said. “So that's very clear.”

Typically complaints go through department and collegiate review.

“In 11 years in the provost office, I don't recall one of these complaints getting up to our level. They get resolved,” he said. “Another issue I would mention is we do want to make sure that faculty have due process as well.”

In addition to the university processes, the Board of Regents already have a First Amendment policy allowing students, faculty, and staff to bring complaints straight to the board’s executive director.

“I just think it's important to make it very clear to all students that with this new policy, and this policy is quite new, that they have the opportunity to bring complaints straight to the board,” Barker said. “We've heard that the current process works very well and that almost no, or no, complaints make it to the provost level.

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“Well, that might be because there are no complaints, or it might be that students are intimidated in some way from bringing complaints to that level,” he said. “So I think we need to, especially in light of what we've been seeing recently, we need to … make it very clear to students that they can bring them straight to the board.”

Although board majority overruled Barker in support of existing policies and concern the new language might muddy the regulatory waters, regent President Sherry Bates did affirm the board’s commitment to compliance.

“If we hear of any instances of not following these policies, the board office will audit and review the circumstances,” she said. “If the board office audit determines the policy is not being followed, I will not be passive in addressing the problem.

Bates promised to set up a regent task force “to correct the situation and ensure compliance.”

“Ensuring that our students can learn and think for themselves is paramount to our mission,” she said.

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com