Lang
12/7/25
The new president of the Iowa Board of Regents and the former chair of the conservative Christian organization The Family Leader said universities have become too liberal .Robert Cramer made those comments during an event at the Old Capitol on Saturday. The “Reforming Universities Summit” was part of a two-day kickoff for the new University of Iowa Center for Intellectual Freedom, which was created earlier this year by the Iowa Legislature in order to diversify opinions on the UI campus.
Other speakers at the weekend event echoed Cramer’s comments. Joshua Katz, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said those responsible for higher education’s issues fall into two categories — “sheep” and “crazies.” He added that universities should stop hiring “crazies”.
Texas A&M professor Adam Kolasinski said the rise of critical race theory in law schools in the 1970’s and 80’s helped lead to what he calls the “far left ideology” in higher education. Kolasinski has a 100% “Awful” rating on ratemyprofessor.com….the lowest possible score.
Only those on the panels or personally invited were allowed to speak at the summit. Several current UI students and staff noted the irony of the “Center for Intellectual Freedom” not allowing opposing viewpoints or comments from the public.
While Iowa governor Kim Reynolds was in attendance, one public official who was not invited was Democratic State Representative Dave Jacoby, whose district includes parts of the UI campus and who sits on the House Higher Education Committee. Jacoby attended the event as a member of the public, and will give his thoughts on what he heard when he visits KCJJ at 7:00 Monday morning.