Iowa’s attorney general is investigating comments a University of Iowa employee made in an undercover video about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programming on campus.
Governor Reynolds asked for the investigation after seeing the video, which aired on Fox News Tuesday. The governor said the University of Iowa employee “blatantly admits” to defying the anti-Diversity, Equity and Inclusion law she signed in 2024.
Sherry Bates is president of the Board of Regents, which oversees the university.
“I would like to address the report about faculty and staff not adhering to state and federal law regarding DEI,” Board of Regents president Sherry Bates said this morning as she convened the board that governs UI for its July meeting. “This is unacceptable. Following the law is not optional, nor is working around the law,” Bates said. “Any attempt to skirt the law needs to be dealt with swiftly. The board fully supports the Attorney General’s review and will take any action needed to correct this very problematic situation.”
In the video, the employee suggests staff on campus are using the phrase “civic engagement” rather than DEI and the governor, in her complaint, said it appears the university has maintained a DEI office. Attorney General Brenna Bird said the three state-supported “Regent universities must comply with our state laws including the Iowa Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (“DEI”) Act…and also an Executive Order signed by President Trump on January 22, 2025. We have received the Governor’s complaint against the University of Iowa and have opened an investigation.”
The 2024 Iowa Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Act only closed down DEI offices at the three state universities, but it banned any effort to promote programming or activities that refer to race, color, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
“I share Governor Reynolds’ concerns and appreciate Attorney General Bird taking up this investigation,” said Representative Taylor Collins, a Republican from Mediapolis. “Taxpayers are seeing, firsthand, just how embedded the DEI bureaucracy has become at our institutions of higher education. However, the persisting issues at University of Iowa are a direct result of the Board of Regent’s abdication of oversight to the universities themselves, and a lack of clear direction from University of Iowa leadership.”
Collins, who is chairman of the Iowa House High Education Committee, said the panel is prepared to act is more steps need to be taken to eliminate ideologically driven programs from the state universities.
(Additional reporting by Radio Iowa’s Dar Danielson who is covering the Board of Regents meeting where University of Iowa president Barbara Wilson is expected to speak.)