The executive committee appointed to oversee the University of Iowa’s Center For Intellectual Freedom (CIF) discussed hiring a permanent director during their meeting Tuesday.
Interim director Luciano Decastro is one candidate that they voted to support moving forward. Other candidates on their list were talked about in a closed session as they asked they their names not be made public.
A new law will require all UI students take at least two classes at CIF starting in July of 2028 in order to graduate. The committee got into a back and forth discussion on having the scholarship committee start selecting courses and curriculum. University of Texas professor Richard Lowery is on the Center’s advisory council was concerned about moving ahead without a permanent director in place. “There are many people on the scholar committee who are happy to help, but their time is valuable. And if we don’t have any guidance on sort of how this academic unit is going to be set up, I think we need that sort of thing pinned down so that we can get to work,” he says.
Christine Hensley is chair of the executive committee and says they need to move forward and start looking the issue.
“Understanding on a parallel track, you’ve also got the academic officer working with the provost and the universities to identify current classes, what would qualify, what would not qualify. And you’re going to have to come together at some point,” Hensley says.
Lowery says he is concerned the end result is going to be that whatever the provost wants is going to happen and they’re going to ignore the information from the scholar committee. “Because when this was set up, there’s supposed to be a lot of independence and the scholar committee within the advisory board was supposed to be providing advice to the director on how this sets up. What I’m hearing now is the director isn’t really going to be the person making these decisions,” Lowery says.
Hensley says that’s not what she suggests. “I didn’t say that. We’re getting input from them. And we also feel very strongly that the new director for the center needs to be very, very involved in the process. So yes, I think the scholar committee can have some discussions and start looking at this and working forward as to how this should proceed,” Hensley says.
Hensley says the new director is going to have input and the university is also going to have input because they will work with the academic officer at the regents office on what classes may or may not qualify.