Two GOP lawmakers at the state and federal level are calling on public university leaders to fire anyone found to have violated laws banning diversity, equity, and inclusion in college classrooms and beyond.
U.S. Representative Randy Feenstra and state Representative Taylor Collins signed and sent a letter to the Iowa Board of Regents Friday, to be distributed to University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson, Iowa State University President Wendy Wintersteen, and University of Northern Iowa President Mark Nook, to make sure DEI is dead on their campuses and fire anyone who claims otherwise.
“Last May, Governor (Kim) Reynolds signed legislation eliminating the DEI bureaucracies at our Regent Universities. In January of this year, President Trump signed an Executive Order ending DEI efforts in the federal government,” the letter stated. “From Des Moines to Washington, D.C., clear messages have been sent to our institutions of higher education to end these radical programs.”
The letter brought up specific instances of videos appearing to show UI employees talking about changes to DEI and ways that they’re working around restrictions. At the time the UI announced, it was launching “an immediate and comprehensive investigation” into the incidents and would take corrective action, if necessary.
A video also surfaced involving the former director of the ISU Center for LGBTQIA+ Student Success discussing compliance with the law while finding loopholes to get around them. The university said in a statement there was no timestamp on the video, and judging by the discussion and where the video was shot, it was taken before universities were required by the board of regents to come under compliance with anti-DEI legislation.
Both the LGBTQ+ center and director position were eliminated in December 2024, according to the statement.
According to the letter sent by Feenstra and Collins, “currently many of these employees are on paid administrative leave, enjoying a taxpayer funded vacation.” The UI did not respond on the afternoon of Friday, August 22, to questions about the status of investigations or whether employees are on leave.
Collins said in an interview earlier in August that the UI had lost a lot of his and other lawmakers’ trust after they learned of the incidents, and he told Wilson in a previous letter she needed to send a strong message that DEI is no longer welcome on campus.
“Clear and decisive action from each of you is the only way we can ensure that DEI is DOA in the State of Iowa,” the letter stated.
This article was originally published at: IowaCapitalDispatch.com/briefs/university-employees-in-violation-of-anti-dei-laws-should-be-fired-2-lawmakers-say. The author Brooklyn Draisey is a Report for America corps member covering higher education. She previously worked for the Quad-City Times and The Gazette covering topics ranging from business to culture.
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