University of Northern Iowa confirms new student regent will start next week

After eight months without a full nine-member Iowa Board of Regents, Gov. Kim Reynolds has appointed a University of Northern Iowa student to fill the vacant student-regent spot, according to UNI.

“The University of Northern Iowa confirmed on Tuesday that Governor Kim Reynolds has appointed UNI student Lucy Gipple to serve on the Iowa Board of Regents,” according to a UNI news release.

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Gipple — an elementary education major, minoring in social and emotional learning — will begin her regent tenure at the board’s Feb. 27 meeting in Urbandale.

“Lucy is a phenomenal student at UNI and I know she will represent herself very well in this capacity,” UNI President Mark Nook said in a statement. “I am excited for Lucy and her opportunity to serve our state on the Iowa Board of Regents.”

Gipple succeeds former student regent Abby Crow, a graduated University of Iowa student who served from June 2021 to June 2024.

Since Crow’s final meeting last summer, the board has gone eight months and held six meetings without its full panel of voting members — marking the longest student vacancy stretch since the Iowa Legislature in 1988 required a student to fill one of the nine unpaid seats.

The vacancy compelled Regent Nancy Dunkel to go public in November with her concerns about the missing student regent. And state Rep. Dave Jacoby, D-Coralville, recently proposed a bill that would prevent the regents from meeting if the student member is not present.

“We're missing a student representative on our board,” Dunkel said at the board’s November meeting, highlighting the import of the student’s input during board discussions. “We really need to put our efforts into getting that seat filled so we can hear that perspective as well. Because that's the process that we hear what the students are saying.”

Reynolds’ office didn’t respond to The Gazette’s previous questions and reporting about the vacancy. Her office did not issue a news release or announcement on Gipple’s appointment, but Tuesday told The Gazette the student was appointed Feb. 6.

The board’s other eight members are chosen by the governor “from the state at large solely with regard to their qualifications and fitness to discharge the duties of the office.” The members are not paid to serve on the board, which governs the state’s three public universities.

At UNI, Gipple is involved in Connecting Alumni to Students, the Alpha Phi sorority, the Panhellenic Executive Team and part of the 2025 orientation staff.

From New Sharon, Gipple graduated from North Mahaska High School — where she served as student body president, class president, cheer captain of the football and basketball teams and was a member of the National Honor Society.

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

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