Iowa
Lawmakers scrutinize DEI, transparency issues in series of higher education bills • Iowa Capital Dispatch
![Lawmakers scrutinize DEI, transparency issues in series of higher education bills • Iowa Capital Dispatch Lawmakers scrutinize DEI, transparency issues in series of higher education bills • Iowa Capital Dispatch](https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Statehouseatnight-2048x1223.jpg)
In the last of several higher education subcommittees Wednesday, Rep. Ross Wilburn, D-Ames, shared a personal story of discrimination he experienced in order to explain why the tenets of diversity, equity and inclusion matter.
After writing a letter to the editor in response to a visit from President Donald Trump, Wilburn said he received death threats from a woman in Des Moines, saying he should be lynched and calling him the N-word. He asked the crowd of people at the meeting to think about his experience when they think about diversity, equity and inclusion and its importance.
“This notion that it doesn’t matter, that we are excluding others, that people in this limited definition of diversity … need to get over it or (are) given some advantage, I just encourage you to consider the experience I shared,” Wilburn said.
Members of the Iowa House Higher Education Committee heard from lobbyists and members of the public Wednesday on a number of bills relating to the courses and information within state universities, as well as the bodies that regulate them. Diversity, equity and inclusion was a much-discussed topic among visitors and lawmakers.
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House Study Bill 53 would require the Iowa Board of Regents to craft a policy stating no state university can require students to enroll in diversity, equity and inclusion or critical race theory courses, and no one can require, encourage or otherwise incentivize faculty to participate in similar practices or offer corresponding content in their classes.
Exemptions can be granted in instances where these topics are included in a course that clearly identifies itself as being about gender, race or ethnic studies.
The legislation saw opposition from many of those who spoke during public comments, listing reasons of restricting academic freedom, limiting students’ ability to learn concepts and gain skills that would help them with cultural competency, and creating a culture of fear of what is allowed to be said on campus.
Wilburn emphasized that the bill does not bar any type of instruction, but rather its requirement or encouragement for students to take, and added that legislation using the “limited” definition of diversity, equity and inclusion causes a lot of frustration and anger.
These terms mean that all cultures, faiths and political backgrounds are embraced, he said.
The Iowa Board of Regents and others voiced their support for the bill, with State Relations Officer Jillian Carlson saying it reflects legislation passed last year and the current trends seen in the federal government.
Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison and Rep. Skyler Wheeler, R-Hull, supported the bill and moved it forward to be considered in committee. Both expressed their apologies during the meeting for what Wilburn experienced, and Wheeler said there needs to be ways to unite people, but not through DEI.
“Racists exist and they suck,” Wheeler said. “The problem with all of this is there is zero proof that this is helping make people less racist. There’s actually a lot of people out there arguing it’s doing the opposite of that.”
Holt echoed Wheeler’s statement, adding that the American people seem to be sick of “tolerating what divides us,” which is what he said DEI programs are doing. Courses and activities involving DEI indoctrinate people to the idea of looking at everyone through the lens of race, he said, which he called “Marxist” and “destructive.”
“I proudly advance this legislation, and I would give a word of caution to our regents universities,” Holt said. “I’m really glad to hear you’re supporting it, because it’s going to be done one way or another — the easy way or the hard way.”
House Study Bill 57 would bar accrediting bodies from taking “adverse action” against community colleges and universities for complying with or refusing to violate state law, and allowing institutions to take civil action against accreditors who have violated this with the authorization of the attorney general.
People speaking during public comment were largely against the bill, with One Iowa Director of Policy and Advocacy Keenan Crow saying it is a bad solution to the problem of having state laws that violate accreditation standards that should be fixed another way. Iowa Board of Regents Chief Government Relations Officer Keith Saunders, however, said the board was in support of the legislation.
Wilburn opposed the bill as well. He said he was concerned that students graduating from accredited private universities could have an advantage over those from public universities in getting a job, and he was unsure how the state could hold a national, non-governmental body accountable for removing accreditation from a school that violates its policies.
Subcommittee chair Rep. John Wills, R-Spirit Lake, and Collins supported the bill and advanced it to the full House Higher Education Committee.
“I think it’s important to note that the Board of Regents is supporting this bill, and I think it’s important that the Legislature ultimately has the final say when it comes to these matters, not an unelected, unaccountable accreditor outside of the state of Iowa,” Collins said.
Making syllabus, financial information public
Two pieces of legislation passed out of subcommittee Wednesday related to making certain information at public universities available to the public, including syllabi and financial data.
House Study Bill 55 would require universities post to online the syllabi for each undergraduate credit course they offer, including the instructor’s name and information on course material, recommended readings and lecture descriptions, among other things.
Subcommittee member Rep. Monica Kurth, D-Davenport, said a syllabus is not a legal document, nor is it something that sets courses in stone. It is an “agreement between the student and instructor, she said, that lays out an outline of the course and how they will be assessed.
Kurth agreed with a member of the public’s comments that people who aren’t involved in higher education could go looking for pieces of syllabi to take out of context and make “ a big deal about something they don’t really know a lot about,” she said.
Subcommittee chair Rep. Heather Hora, R-Washington, and member Collins supported the bill and passed it forward to be considered in committee. Collins called the legislation “common sense,” and said making syllabi available publicly is something that should already be in practice.
“As far as the cost and the burden of doing it, perhaps (universities) could allocate part of the over half a billion dollars we appropriate to the universities or the millions to be saved from DEI … to support these efforts,” Collins said.
House Study Bill 59 would require state universities to post financial information online, like budgets items, expenditures and vendor contracts that equate to $1,000 or more. Salary reports and administrative unit budgets must also be published, as well as “information on expenditures for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and similar commitments,” according to the bill.
Information restricted from being public by state or federal law would be redacted, the bill stated.
Carolann Jensen, Iowa Board of Regents state relations officer representing Iowa State University, said during the subcommittee meeting the Iowa Board of Regents has submitted suggestions for amendments to the bill, including raising the cited dollar amount from $1,000 to $100,000 and changing definitions listed in the legislation.
Rep. Jeff Shipley, R-Birmingham, said the Legislature and the board of regents should be able to come to a nice middle ground between those two numbers, and he and Collins approved it to move ahead to the full House Higher Education committee. Kurth said she would oppose the bill until further information gathering and conversations can be had.
“I think there’s a lot of good direction on this bill (with) information that would help the public and give us just more transparency on institutions,” Shipley said.
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Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the naming of Rep. Skyler Wheeler when referencing House Study Bill 53.
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Iowa
Protesters at Iowa Capitol denounce Trump, Musk
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
DES MOINES — Protesters gathered Monday at the Iowa Capitol to denounce the executive actions taken by President Donald Trump so far during his second term, and the involvement of tech billionaire Elon Musk’s in his administration.
Held on Presidents Day, the “No King Day” protest at the Capitol was one of many across the country.
The protest was a part of the 50501 movement, which stands for “50 protests, 50 states, one day.” It is a grassroots movement originally organized over platforms including Reddit, Discord and Instagram.
Protesters called on Iowa lawmakers to denounce the actions of Trump and Musk, including Musk’s leadership of the “Department of Government Efficiency” and cuts to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and programs.
Attendees chanted “President Musk must go,” and “Not my president.”
Randolph Scott, vice president of the United Auto Workers Local 450 Human and Civil Rights Committee, attended the protest. He said he is concerned about Trump further dividing the country.
“We may disagree, but that is the best part about our country, is that it’s OK to disagree, to try and figure out a better way to resolve whatever our issues may be,” Scott said. “But he seems to be comfortable with dividing this country.”
A similar protest also was held at the Iowa Capitol earlier this month, where three people were arrested and charged with interfering with official acts after being removed from the building by Iowa State Patrol troopers stationed at the Capitol.
Bernie Sanders holding event in Iowa City
Bernie Sanders, the independent U.S. senator from Vermont and two-time candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, will host an event Saturday in Iowa City.
The event, hosted by Sanders’ campaign arm and titled “Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go From Here,” is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Saturday at The Englert Theatre in Iowa City. It is the second event on what will be a national tour, Sanders’ campaign says.
Attendance is free but requires a ticket, which can be obtained online at englert.org/events.
Doors are scheduled to open for the event at 10:30 a.m., and no bags, signs or firearms are allowed.
Sanders was a narrow second to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Iowa Democratic presidential precinct caucuses. In 2020 in Iowa, Sanders and Pete Buttigieg finished atop a race that ultimately was too close to call, although Buttigieg was awarded slightly more delegate equivalents by a small margin.
State program returns $4.6M
More than $4.6 million in unclaimed property and finances was returned during a recent highlighting of the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt program conducted by the Iowa Treasurer’s Office, the agency said.
After the office highlighted the program — which seeks to reunite Iowans’ unclaimed property and finances held by the office — during its 2025 Unclaimed Property Day celebration, there were more than half a million visits to the program’s website greatiowatreasurehunt.gov and more than 13,000 claims were made, according to the Treasurer’s Office. That activity was an increase of 92 percent from the previous year, the office said.
The largest claim was more than $250,000, according to the Treasurer’s Office.
Iowa Treasurer Roby Smith said the celebration was “a huge success” and noted that his office still has more than half a billion dollars in unclaimed property and finances.
Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau
Iowa
No. 3 Iowa 37, Northwestern 3: Wildcat Walloping
No. 3 Iowa 37, Northwestern 3: Wildcat Walloping
On Sunday, the gauntlet let up for #3 Iowa wrestling and the Hawkeyes replaced drama with dominance in a 37-3 rout of Northwestern. Four of Iowa wrestling’s previous five dual meets had been against top-10 ranked opponents, but Sunday’s Big Ten finale was against an overmatched Northwestern squad that boasted just four ranked wrestlers.
The Wildcats won the first match of the dual on Sunday, but it was all downhill after that. Iowa won the remaining nine matches in the dual meet, including a stretch of five straight bonus point wins that featured four technical falls. The Hawkeyes finished with six total bonus point wins and an easy 37-3 win, despite resting starters at a handful of weights. Iowa improves to 13-1 overall and 7-1 in Big Ten competition.
Northwestern’s lone win of the dual meet was the first match of the day, as #9 Trevor Chumbley earned a 4-1 win in sudden victory over freshman Miguel Estrada. Chumbley and Estrada traded escapes but little in the way of credible attacks during regulation, but Chumbley got to Estrada’s legs and finished in sudden victory to notch the victory.
The Wildcats’ lead in the dual was short-lived, though, as #2 Michael Caliendo unleashed a flurry of takedowns to earn a 19-4 technical fall win over #18 Maxx Mayfield early in the second period. Caliendo attacked at multiple levels and from a variety of angles and finished crisply again and again in his blowout win.
Nelson Brands spelled #11 Patrick Kennedy at 174 lbs, but the end result was familiar: a 21-5 technical fall over Aiden Vandenbush. Brands’ tech fall was a little more methodical than Caliendo’s — he needed to wrestle into the third period to secure his bonus point win — but the end result was the same. It was a positive return to the mat for Brands, who came back to Iowa for one final season after a controversial gambling suspension last year, but has found opportunities limited during an injury-hobbled season.
Perhaps no Iowa wrestler needed to put a series of takedowns on the scoreboard more than #8 Gabe Arnold, who had gone 2-2 in his last four matches and recorded just a single takedown over those four bouts. Arnold doubled that count by the end of the first period and added a third, plus some stalling points against Halverson to earn his major decision win. Questions remain about Arnold’s ability to score against high-end opposition at 184 lbs, but hopefully Sunday’s showing gives him a bit more confidence heading into the biggest matches of the season.
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The tech fall train rolled on at 197 and 285, with #1 Stephen Buchanan (at 197) and #11 Ben Kueter (at 285) adding to Iowa’s bonus point tally. Buchanan’s tech fall came as little surprise — he’s scored bonus points in 78% of his wins this season (14 of 18 wins) and this was his seventh technical fall of the year. He mowed through #14 Evan Bates with a combination of takedowns and near fall points en route to a lopsided 18-2 win.
Kueter’s technical fall was more of a surprise, as he’s notched bonus points in only 41% of his wins this year and only one of those six previous bonus point wins was a technical fall. Kueter showed plenty of scoring ability from neutral against Dirk Mosley, stringing together takedowns (and a few near fall points) to pick up the 20-4 technical fall victory. Like Arnold, the hope is that scoring takedowns in bunches here will boost Kueter’s confidence heading into the hardest part of the season.
The bonus points slowed way down for Iowa in the final four bouts of the dual meet, as the only win by more than a regular decision was notched by Cullan Schriever, who had a major decision at 141 lbs. #26 Joey Cruz continued his recent good form with a workmanlike 6-1 decision win over Dedrick Navarro, while Jesse Ybarra replaced regular starter #3 Drake Ayala at 133 with a 7-3 decision win over Massey Odiotti. Schriever picked up Iowa’s final bonus point win with a 9-0 major decision win over Luis Bazan before #3 Kyle Parco wrapped up the dual with a 9-2 win over #25 Sam Cartella.
There’s only so much to be gleaned from a rout over a very overmatchd opponent. Iowa wrestlers will need to beat much tougher opponents at the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments than what they faced on Sunday in order to achieve their individual and team goals next month. But the Hawkeyes also generally did on Sunday what they should do against overmatched opponents: dominate. That will have to suffice until the big events arrive in a few weeks.
NEXT: #3 Iowa wraps up the dual meet season with a primetime showdown against #2 Oklahoma State (13-0) on Sunday, February 23. The dual meet is scheduled to start at 7:30 PM CT on BTN.
Iowa
Iowa State 81-70 Cincinnati (Feb 15, 2025) Game Recap – ESPN
![Iowa State 81-70 Cincinnati (Feb 15, 2025) Game Recap – ESPN Iowa State 81-70 Cincinnati (Feb 15, 2025) Game Recap – ESPN](https://s.espncdn.com/stitcher/sports/basketball/mens-college-basketball/events/401725741.png?templateId=espn.com.share.1)
AMES, Iowa — — Backup guard Curtis Jones made all 12 of his free throws and scored 22 points to help No. 10 Iowa State beat Cincinnati 81-70 on Saturday for its 20th victory of the season.
Joshua Jefferson added 13 points and three steals for the Cyclones (20-5, 10-4 Big 12). Milan Momcilovic had 12 points, and Tamin Lipsey added 11. Lipsey made all three three of his attempts from the field, two of them 3-pointers, and had four steals.
Jizzle James matched his career high with 25 points for the Bearcats (15-10, 5-9). Day Day Thomas added 13.
Cincinnati: The Bearcats struggled to stay out of foul trouble. They they were called for 23 personal fouls and three technical fouls, with two players fouling out.
Iowa State: The Cyclones outrebounded Cincinnati 37-19, with 12 coming off the offensive glass. Iowa State also held the Bearcats to their lowest rebounding total of the season.
Iowa State had a 10-run midway through the second half to regain the lead.
Iowa State overcame a season-high 18 turnovers.
Iowa State hosts Colorado on Tuesday night. Cincinnati is at West Virginia on Wednesday night.
—— Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
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