116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Vanessa Miller
I’ve covered lots of beats over my decades as a reporter, and one reason I really enjoy higher education is because it touches on them all. One day I’m writing about science and interviewing University of Iowa NASA researchers, the next I’m writing about health care, or agriculture, or a new Iowa State-supported business, or athletic budgets, or criminal justice, or the Legislature and potential bills affecting Iowa’s university and college campuses. I also love that I get to investigate and dig deep on some stories, report hard news, and then also share incredible and sometimes harrowing tales of survival or discovery. When I’m not working, I’m playing with my kids or following them around to wrestling tournaments. Get the news delivered right to your inbox.
Latest Articles by Vanessa Miller
Higher Ed Nov. 19, 2024 7:55 am390d ago
The 21-year-old Riverdale man arrested early Friday as University of Iowa police investigated what appeared to be hazing in a fraternity basement repeatedly stood between officers and witnesses, telling police at one point, “You can (expletive) leave.”
Higher Ed Nov. 18, 2024 7:59 am391d ago
Last year, a majority of Iowa’s private colleges and universities created an “Iowa Private Transfer Collaborative,” which this fall signed an “Iowa Private Transfer Guarantee” admission agreement with Iowa’s 15 community colleges aimed at simplifying and streamlining the community-to-private college transfer pipeline.
Higher Ed Nov. 18, 2024 7:57 am391d ago
The University of Iowa on Friday placed a chapter on interim suspension after law enforcement discovered “several dozen pledges blindfolded in the basement.”
Higher Ed Nov. 15, 2024 10:49 am394d ago
Seven years later -- after securing a record-setting $115 million grant to pursue the project, navigating delays through COVID, and losing its leader in professor Kletzing’s unexpected passing -- the groundbreaking $165.7 million mission is nearing launch.
Higher Ed Nov. 12, 2024 10:16 am397d ago
“University teachers shall be entitled to academic freedom in the classroom in discussing the teachers’ course subject, but shall not introduce into the teaching controversial matters that have no relation to the subject.”
Crime & Courts Nov. 11, 2024 7:39 am398d ago
The Iowa Supreme Court has reversed a $97.4 million verdict against an OBGYN clinic in Coralville — undoing what was believed to be the largest medical malpractice judgment for a birth trauma in state history — and ordered a new trial.
Higher Ed Nov. 11, 2024 10:02 am398d ago
Six days after Donald Trump achieved a historic victory that will return him to the White House next year, controversial conservative commentator Michael Knowles on Monday will speak at the University of Iowa — inciting push back from some on campus in the form of vandalism and planned protests.
Higher Ed Nov. 8, 2024 11:39 am401d ago
The chair of the Iowa House Education Appropriations Committee on Thursday afternoon called on University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson to terminate a UI Health Care fellow for a comment he posted on X following the presidential election.
Higher Ed Nov. 8, 2024 7:46 am401d ago
Iowa’s public universities in recent months have made progress on complying with a new law restricting diversity, equity, and inclusion-related spending, training, and programming, but some regents and lawmakers say their work isn’t done.
Higher Ed Nov. 7, 2024 4:04 pm402d ago
With the University of Iowa’s pending $20.6 million purchase of 45 percent of the Old Capitol Town Center slated for Board of Regents approval Thursday — making it full owner of the nearly two-block former mall — the campus will nearly double what it already has spent buying the first 55 percent.
Campaigns & Elections Nov. 11, 2024 10:01 am398d ago
Iowa seemed likely to make history with the election of Hiawatha City Council member Aime Wichtendahl to House District 80 — covering northern portions of Cedar Rapids up through Hiawatha and Robins.
Higher Ed Nov. 5, 2024 7:53 am404d ago
Three years after $20 million in federal pandemic aid allowed the University of Iowa in 2021 to open a new “Center for School Mental Health” -- and two years after receiving a $15 million donation to keep it going -- the center is expanding to reach more school-aged kids and moving to a “fee-for-services model.”
Higher Ed Nov. 4, 2024 8:49 am405d ago
In his 14th year at the University of Iowa — where he earned his doctorate in religious studies and has been a visiting professor since, focused on American religion and its intersection with popular culture — Dean has become an expert in “reading cemeteries,” even leading a pre-Halloween cemetery walk through Oakland for the last two years.
Higher Ed Nov. 4, 2024 10:23 am405d ago
More than a year after “parking” its 12-year-old wind turbine due to its age and maintenance needs, Kirkwood Community College on Friday announced it will “decommission” the 417-foot-tall landmark structure on the north end of the college’s main campus.
Higher Ed Nov. 1, 2024 7:52 am408d ago
Iowa is facing a “maternal care crisis” – as rural obstetric units disappear – funneling more pregnant mothers and babies to the University of Iowa, stressing and stretching its resources and compelling it to expand.

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