Iowa's public universities closed their diversity, equity, and inclusion offices last week, following a trend of schools dismantling DEI programs in response to state legislation.
Lawmakers passed an anti-DEI measure in April, which prohibits the state's public universities --- Universities of Iowa, University of Northern Iowa and Iowa State University --- from maintaining or funding such programs and hiring DEI staff. Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the bill into law in May.
Iowa State University eliminated its DEI office and five related positions, three of which were vacant at the time. University spokesperson Angie Hunt told Insight Into Diversity Magazine that one of the affected employees was placed in a different role on campus while the other was laid off. The University of Northern Iowa closed its Center for Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice, although DEI information can still be found on its website.
The University of Iowa, meanwhile, renamed its diversity initiative as the Division of Access, Opportunity, and Diversity. In a May statement, the school said the newly named division would "ensure the university's compliance with state and federal law and diversity-related accreditation criteria. The division also will help students, faculty, and staff build cultural competency skills needed to understand and respect the values, attitudes, norms, and beliefs that differ across cultures."
Similar measures affecting higher education have been enacted in states such as Alabama, Florida, Texas and Utah, and at least one legislative chamber in nearly a dozen other states has also passed anti-DEI bills in recent years.
Additionally, private companies have also started dismantling their once-touted DEI initiatives introduced following the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
Microsoft recently laid off its DEI team, with other companies like Meta, Google, Zoom, Snap, Tesla, DoorDash, Lyft, Home Depot and Wayfair making cuts as well.
Before legislation passed earlier this year, Republican State Rep. Taylor Collins criticized DEI initiatives that were "pushing a woke agenda" on faculty, staff and students.
"For too long, the DEI bureaucracies at our institutions of higher education have been used to impose ideological conformity and promote far left political activism ... all while spending literally millions in the process," he said.
