Hunter
08/28/25
A national group advocating individual rights and expression contacted the Iowa Board of Regents before their vote on academic policy changes earlier this month, pleading for them to rethink their actions.
The Gazette reports the National Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, wrote to the board in an August 11th letter obtained by the newspaper. In it, they said, “The proposal’s problematic language will make faculty think twice before teaching established concepts to their students, imperiling academic freedom in the process. FIRE calls on the Iowa Board of Regents to revise (the) proposed language to affirm that professors have wide latitude to teach their subject without fear of administrative sanction.”
The Board received pushback from faculty, staff and students when they originally proposed a ban on Diversity Equity and Inclusion and other content in courses. On August 12th, they voted nearly-unanimously to implement a revised policy focusing on how instructors teach that content, requiring that topics be taught with balance.
The Gazette also cited an email sent by Regent Robert Cramer in July to Republican lawmakers. He told them, “I’m not afraid of whacko wokeness if my conservative views are presented as well. I’m confident our values can prevail if presented fairly. So we’re trying to craft a policy on how things are presented instead of banning certain topics.”
The Board also received correspondence from University of Northern Iowa and Iowa State faculty asking them to delay their vote on the policy update, offering suggestions and edits to their proposal.
Some Republican lawmakers are taking a harder stance on the issue, and have threatened to enact legislation to remove the topics from the universities altogether. Representative Jason Gearhart of Strawberry Point told the Board in a July letter, “As an elected official in Iowa, I can tell you that we have heard from a significant number of Iowans on this topic. These citizens want DEI and CRT removed from the education system, including the regent universities.”