Lang
8/1/25
The University of Iowa has suspended the employee who was recorded without her knowledge while discussing attempts to work around Iowa’s new anti-DEI laws.
Drea Tinoco was put on paid administrative leave on Tuesday. Tinoco started working for the UI as a residence hall coordinator in 2019 before being promoted to assistant director of Leadership and Student Organization Development in 2022.
Tuesday was the same day Fox News aired a video which reportedly shows Tinoco explaining that she was trying to find a way to work around a new state law that bans Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts at the state’s regents-run schools. A news release from Attorney General Brenna Bird says she is investigating the incident as a possible violation of the new law, and that the incident also violated an executive order issued by President Donald Trump in January.
An official complaint from Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds to Bird said such defiance “should not be tolerated”.
Fox News has yet to reveal the identity of the person who shot the secret video.
A link to the video can be found here.