(Des Moines, Iowa) – Iowa’s state universities have reallocated more than $2.1 million originally used for positions and offices relating to diversity, equity and inclusion on campus as a result of Iowa Board of Regent directives and a state law set to go into effect next summer, according to a report released Tuesday. The Iowa Capital Dispatch says nearly a year after the board of regents implemented directives for state universities to restructure or eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion offices, positions and programs, the board and universities are working to come under compliance with a state law barring them from opening, maintaining or funding DEI offices.

Board President Sherry Bates announced at the board’s September meeting that board office staff had begun analyzing university departments, programs and positions relating to DEI in order to bring the universities under compliance with legislation pertaining to DEI activities on college campuses. Bates, along with Regents Greta Rouse, David Barker and JC Risewick, led this process.

(Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Senate File 2435 bars the University of Iowa, University of Northern Iowa and Iowa State University from launching, maintaining or funding DEI offices, which it defines in the law. Public universities cannot hire, either themselves or through a third party, anyone to conduct the duties of a DEI office, or assign these duties to a current employee. They also cannot make or compel anyone to submit a DEI statement.

Units that are exempt from the legislation include student organizations, student recruitment offices and offices tasked with making sure the university is following state and federal laws and court orders, according to the report. Despite the bill not going into effect until July 2025, Bates emphasized at the September meeting that the board and universities’ work will be complete by Dec. 31.

According to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Report, board office staff worked with the universities starting in June to study areas of their operations and determine whether they are in line with the legislation “from a structural perspective.” They split the units they reviewed into four categories, the report stated, based on whether they meet the definition of DEI under the law and whether they are exempt from it, either because they meet the criteria in the legislation for exemption or because they are required by law or for accreditation.

In addition to studying university programs and departments, the group also reviewed state and federal laws, as well as accreditors, as some have policies relating to DEI. The review identified commonalities among the three universities, including positions that could have DEI aspects or responsibilities being vacant, broader definitions of DEI than the one written in the legislation and certain programs that were still in transition in response to the board’s directives from last November.

Each of the universities will provide updates to the board at its Nov. 6-7 meeting at the University of Northern Iowa.