Naming UI center for Kirk would clarify its mission

As the shock of Charlie Kirk’s assassination still hung in the air last week, U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks floated an idea that was hardly shocking.

Miller-Meeks, a Republican who represents Iowa’s 1st District, proposed naming the Center for Intellectual Freedom at the University of Iowa after Kirk, who was shot to death at an event on a college campus in Utah.

Maybe you recall Iowa lawmakers passing a bill this year requiring creation of the center, which they claim will foster “open, and rigorous intellectual inquiry to seek the truth.”

“The University of Iowa Center for Intellectual Freedom should live up to its name by honoring a true defender of free speech and open debate,” Miller-Meeks posted on X. “Charlie Kirk dedicated his life to advancing intellectual freedom, empowering students, and challenging the cancel culture mob that seeks to silence dissent.”

Initially, her proposal seemed like a bad idea. And no. I was not celebrating Kirk’s death, nor was I thinking he somehow deserved to die because of his incendiary views. Anybody who makes a living sharing their political opinions in the public square should be chilled to the bone after watching how quickly and violently Kirk was silenced.

I just figured an Iowa center should be named after an Iowan. Maybe the late U.S. Rep. Jim Leach, a Republican who promoted civility in politics.

But then I gave it some more thought.

Affixing Kirk’s name to the center certainly would clear up any more confusion about its true objectives, which have been hidden behind high-minded pronouncements about freedom of speech and open debate.

The Center for Intellectual Freedom is not an Iowa idea. It was cooked up by the Civics Alliance, a conservative think tank that has helped spread centers to other states.

Tennessee, West Virginia, Ohio and Texas, to name a few. Most centers are state funded, but also receive gifts from conservative donors.

“Informed patriotism should stretch beyond K-12 and into higher education. In many states, colleges and universities have become centers of anti-American thought,” said Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee in 2022.

Republican state lawmakers in Iowa have waged an all-out offensive against state universities. They’ve passed or considered a series of bills aimed at rooting out ideas and programs Republicans don’t agree with and asserting more control over what students learn, especially when it comes to American history and civics. Emphasize American greatness but whitewash any chapters that don’t show America being great.

Why would the center, supported by the same legislators, be any different?

As The Gazette’s Vanessa Miller reported, 11 of the first 13 appointees to the center’s 26-member board are Republicans or Republican donors. Terry Branstad and former U.S. Rep. Greg Ganske are on the board.

So, the center will carry on the fight against “whacko wokeness,” as a Republican on the Board of Regents put it. Members of the “mob” had had better watch what they say. Will it have a drive-through window for informants to report America-haters?

So, call it whatever you want. But let’s stop pretending the center is all about free speech or robust debate. You don’t have to be an intellectual to see what’s really happening.

(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com