University of Iowa Center for Intellectual Freedom will ask: ‘What is wrong with universities?’

IOWA CITY — Among the questions a new University of Iowa Center for Intellectual Freedom will tackle at its inaugural event Dec. 5-6 are “What is wrong with universities?” “How did we end up here?” and “Can universities be reformed?”

Those sweeping queries will headline three of seven panel discussions planned for the early-December event meant to debut the new UI free-thought hub — which lawmakers mandated last session with a bill requiring the University of Iowa create a new center charged with increasing diversity of thought and political balance on campus.

A 26-member advisory council for the center will convene virtually for the first time Tuesday to discuss the December event, bylaws governing the center, and its upcoming national search for a permanent director.

“As its name indicates, the advisory council is advisory,” interim director Luciano I. de Castro said in written comments meant to clarify governance of the center. “The advisory council has no governing authority. To repeat, the only governing authority of the center is the Board of Regents.”

Regents last week voiced concern that half the advisory council members are from outside Iowa and that all the council’s “scholars” — defined as members who are current or former tenured professors from research 1 universities — are out of state.

Proposed bylaws — which the Board of Regents did not approve when considered last week — sought to require a majority of the council’s “executive committee” to be scholars and all of its “scholar committee” to be scholars.

That raised red flags for regents like Nancy Dunkel, Robert Cramer, and President Sherry Bates.

“I agree with Robert and Nancy, and I've heard from others with concerns that it's not an Iowa-based executive committee,” Bates said during the board’s meeting Wednesday. “And I think that that's really important to have.”

Those concerns and a rereading of House File 437, which established the center, compelled the board to delay its vote to approve the council bylaws until after the first advisory council meeting this week.

“We want to have them right, not just for us right now, but for 10, 20, 30 years from now,” Cramer said. “And so I think structurally, it does need some work. Then I saw in the code that it actually says the Center for Intellectual Freedom shall establish the bylaws and bring them to the board. So I think it'd be good to allow our first advisory council meeting, which is coming up, to have the first crack at the bylaws and then let the Board of Regents approve after that.”

Clarifying council powers

In clarifying what actual power the advisory council will have, de Castro in written remarks he shared with The Gazette on Monday said the “enabling statute places the center directly under the Board of Regents, which is the same body that governs all public universities in Iowa.”

“The center is fully accountable to this board and to this board only,” he said. “Therefore, the center will not be controlled by people outside Iowa.”

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The advisory council — which de Castro stressed has no governing authority — has two statutory duties: to council the center and the board; and to conduct a national search for a permanent director.

Noting the legislation creating the center restricted the advisory council to have no more than one UI employee, de Castro said, “we rely on nationally recognized scholars from outside the university to bring the expertise and independence the law requires.”

“Academic searches of this kind are inherently led by scholars, who possess the expertise to evaluate candidates’ research, teaching, and intellectual stature,” he said. “This is why the council includes distinguished academics. This will guarantee high standards in this search, which is crucial for the future leadership of the center.”

Regents previously reported that Gov. Kim Reynolds suggested appointees for the new UI center, and de Castro in his written remarks said the governor “recognized that inviting nationally renowned professors to serve on the council would deliver an immediate and tangible benefit to Iowa: academic reputation.”

“I am deeply grateful to Governor Reynolds for personally inviting each of these scholars and advocating for their appointment by the Board of Regents,” he said. “Her leadership with respect to this issue was crucial to build this advisory council.”

Center spring courses

Beyond forming the advisory council, early work to get the center up and running has included the creation of two new courses for the spring semester — all to be led by de Castro.

“American Culture and Values” will involve a series of 110-minute lectures from instructors of “diverse backgrounds and experiences, including but not limited to university professors.”

“The course will present engaging and thought-provoking topics for discussion in a class limited to 32 students,” according to a description of the course. “This small class size fosters open discussion and in-depth exploration of each topic’s multiple dimensions. The primary objective of the course is to inspire students to embark on a compelling journey of discovery and learning about significant issues related to the course theme, captured by its title.”

A “Political and Economic Institutions in the United States” course likewise will involve lectures and class discussion on the relevant topic.

Funding for the center’s activities in its first year will come from the $1 million lawmakers appropriated, with $130,000 budgeted for temporary faculty; $110,000 budgeted for marketing; $80,000 budgeted for the director search; and $20,000 budgeted for a “market study” -- among other spending.

De Castro has suggested the Common Sense Institute of Iowa conduct that market study — although he did not detail what, specifically, they would analyze.

And while he’s still ironing out details for the upcoming event in December — which also will include panel discussions on the current Center for Intellectual Freedom plan and possible action steps — de Castro said he does have several panelists confirmed, two of whom are serving on the advisory council.

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

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