Legislative meddling harms universities

In the fall of 1975, I was a freshman at Central College in Pella.

I graduated from high school with 12 other students. I wasn’t the Valedictorian or even Salutatorian, but I was in the top 10. With that academic record, graduation from college was the goal, but not a foregone conclusion.

I first had to conquer general education requirements. One of those was a religion class. I attended Sunday school and church my whole life, so I registered for New Testament.

The first day, Dr. Eugene Heideman began class saying, “Welcome to New Testament class. If you think this is Sunday school, please drop this class now.”

He was telling the truth.

No one would accuse Dr. Heideman of being a wild liberal. He was a gifted scholar, and an ordained minister in the Reform church. He taught in-depth New Testament history and didn’t shy away from the controversial parts a pulpit minister wouldn’t dare touch in a 20-minute sermon.

He challenged us and made us uncomfortable. His goal wasn’t to indoctrinate. His goal was to force critical thinking.

This happened 50 years ago in conservative Pella, not Iowa City. Yet, every professor I encountered had critical thinking, and open discussion as core teaching values. The only worry about “woke” was making it to 8 a.m. classes.

But that was then. This is now.

For the last few legislative sessions, The governor and her MAGA minions pushed to have a one-size fits all K-12 public school curriculum based on their political ideology. Now, with House Study Bill 63, they’ve broadened their meddling to state universities.

Here’s what the bill says:

“The board shall adopt a policy to ensure that courses that satisfy the general education requirements established pursuant to section 262C.2 do not distort significant historical events or include identity politics or is based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, or privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States of America or the state of Iowa. The policy shall not limit the academic freedom of any course instructor to direct the instruction within the instructor’s course or limit the free discussion of ideas in a classroom setting.“

This bill will choke academic freedom and substitute an ideology whitewashing difficult and needed discussion and critical analysis. Without freedom to openly discuss real issues like racism, sexism, and privilege, students will be cheated.

This is what George Orwell calls “doublespeak” in his novel 1984. The first sentence has a menu of limits to academic freedom and then the last sentence contradicts the first by guaranteeing unlimited academic freedom.

Without talking about systemic racism, how could a history professor explain the forced displacement of Native Americans in Trail of Tears? Could slavery be discussed? How does a professor discuss the women’s suffrage movement without mentioning sexism?

College is to broaden knowledge and enhance critical thinking. This bill dangerously narrows that goal.

Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City, taught for 11 years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association Regional Director for 27 years until he retired. BruceLear2419@gmail.com