Regents president unsure if board will reconsider Harkin Institute

IOWA CITY – State Regents President David Miles said Wednesday he's unsure if the Board of Regents will revisit its April decision to name an Iowa State University institute after sitting U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin.

The Republican-controlled Iowa House on Tuesday passed a resolution saying public buildings and institutions should not be named after elected officials while they are still in office, a response to the regents approval of the Harkin Institute. The board approved ISU's planned Harkin Institute for Public Policy in April by a 6-2 vote, despite the objections of some Republican leaders. Harkin, a longtime Democratic senator, is an ISU graduate.

The House resolution asks the regents to reconsider their action because naming the institute is a break from tradition and gives Harkin “an unfair political advantage” in elections.

Miles, a Democrat from Dallas Center, said he got notice late Tuesday afternoon of the House resolution, but it was too late to gather information and get the issue on the agenda for Wednesday's board meeting. Regents respect the decision to pass the House resolution, but Miles said he doesn't know if the board will change its actions based on the resolution.

“It's something we're not yet ready to address,” he told reporters.

The Harkin Institute will be funded by private donations and is meant to be a place of scholarly study and academic research on public policy issues. It also will house Sen. Harkin's papers.