Gov. Reynolds orders review of university antisemitism policies, events, responses

Reiterating Iowa’s “long-standing support for Israel and the Jewish community,” Gov. Kim Reynolds on Monday ordered the Board of Regents to review antisemitism policies at each of its universities and report back to her office on antisemitism acts and campus responses since Oct. 7, 2023.

“Since the Oct. 7 attacks, we’ve seen an increase in antisemitism across the U.S., including on college campuses,” Gov. Reynolds said in a statement. “While many of Iowa’s colleges and universities have condemned such activity, we want to be clear that antisemitism has no place in Iowa.”

The Oct. 7 attacks, which sparked the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, began when Hamas-led militants crossed into southern Israel and killed 1,200 people. Another roughly 250 people were taken hostage. About 50 hostages remain captive in Gaza, with less than half believed to be alive.

Reynolds issued her directive through an executive order — her 13th order as governor — requiring the board to cooperate fully with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights “to ensure regent universities fulfill their obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish students.”

The executive order, specifically, requires the board to review policies related to antisemitic speech and actions and to review each campus’ response to acts of antisemitism between Oct. 7, 2023 and Nov. 1, 2025.

Their findings should be summarized in a report due to the governor by Dec. 1.

Additionally, the board must do a follow-up review covering any antisemitism policy changes and responses to new acts of antisemitism and report to the governor by Dec. 1, 2026.

“Any incident or complaint of antisemitism that occurs on any regent university campus shall be immediately reported by such university to the executive director of the board,” according to Reynolds’ order.

The Iowa Department of Education, according to a news release, will make available for all schools instructional materials “to support Iowa’s content standards on Jewish history, the Holocaust, and Israel, and professional learning resources to support best practices for instruction on these topics.”

The Board of Regents and its public universities have policies against harassment, retaliation, and discrimination — barring “discrimination in employment, educational programs, and activities on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth and related conditions), disability, genetic information, status as a U.S. veteran, service in the U.S. military, sexual orientation, or associational preferences.”

The board also complies with several Iowa Code chapters barring it from investing in companies that do business with Sudan or Iran or that boycott Israel.

The Board of Regents’ “boycott of Israel divestment” report from June 30, 2024 showed it “scrutinized” seven companies but did not need to divest from any.

“Regent universities have no direct holdings in companies boycotting Israel.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

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