A growing number of universities are axing their diversity, equity, and inclusion requirements, but the University of Iowa became the latest to restructure its DEI office while attempting to preserve the operational ideology.
The University of Iowa announced that it restructured the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, rebranding it as the Division of Access, Opportunity, and Diversity, which will house some of the same staff and maintain some of the same programs as the DEI office.
“Universities are realizing that if they don’t reform themselves, legislators, governors, and regulators will do it for them,” Adam Kissel, visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy, told the Washington Examiner. “Generally, internal reforms are too little too late. Let’s see how the new structure actually operates. Just removing the ‘DEI’ nomenclature doesn’t change the values or culture of such initiatives.”
The move follows a directive from the school’s board of regents, as well as a state law that was a more thorough ban on the ideology on college campuses. While Iowa State University eliminated its Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and the University of Northern Iowa axed its Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Office, the University of Iowa appears to be testing the waters of how stringent the DEI bans really are.
In April, Republican state Rep. Taylor Collins criticized UI for maintaining a DEI office when the other two state schools had gotten rid of theirs, saying, “The University of Iowa may think they can slap a different name on these bureaucracies, but after the passage of Senate File 2435, they are wrong.” Collins said he had been in contact with state Attorney General Brenna Bird to “ensure these offices are shuttered once and for all.”
The restructuring plan will echo similar moves made by other schools, such as those in Utah and Wyoming, which have been able to focus on more strict legal compliance while maintaining many of the functions of their DEI offices. Some schools have been criticized for simply getting rid of the words “diversity, equity, and inclusion” while keeping the ideology alive.
“The newly named Division of Access, Opportunity, and Diversity will ensure the university’s compliance with state and federal law and diversity-related accreditation criteria,” according to an update from the UI Office of Strategic Communication. “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.”
Kissel said the public cannot necessarily trust academic institutions to rid themselves of DEI ideology fully.
“Public universities have largely squandered the deference they used to deserve,” Kissel said. “Our democracy is pushing back on the campus gates for accountability. The university should specify exactly what the ‘diversity’ accreditation requirements are. Many universities interpret them to be about race even when they aren’t.”
In April, University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson made the case for maintaining DEI ideology at a board of regents meeting, saying, “Many forms of diversity are invisible.”
“Diversity is so much more complicated than what we’ve been fighting about at the national and, I would say, even the state level,” Wilson said. “And our view of diversity is all this and more. And we’re trying really hard to open up all of what we do to make sure that students feel welcome and that faculty and staff feel welcome as well.”
According to the restructuring plan, “some of the same programs will be administered by the new division, but its internal units have been realigned to ensure efficiency and better support campus.”
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The plan rehouses Tiffini Stevenson Earl, former director of equity investigations and ADA compliance, into leading the new Office of Civil Rights Compliance. It will also merge the Center for Inclusive Academic Excellence and the Inclusive Education and Strategic Initiatives into one office now called the Office of Access and Support.
“This new office will serve campus units in maintaining their accreditation standards as well as have an increased emphasis on providing individuals with the skills necessary to serve as culturally and globally competent leaders who can thrive in an increasingly diverse society and workforce,” Liz Tovar, executive officer and associate vice president of the Division of Access, Opportunity, and Diversity, said in a statement.