The recent push in Iowa to limit diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in higher education marks a significant shift in the state’s legislative landscape, particularly under Republican leadership. Collins, who serves on both the Iowa House Education Appropriations subcommittee and the state’s student aid commission, has been a vocal critic of DEI initiatives.
His comments signal that this opposition will continue as part of the new committee’s focus, emphasizing the need to restore public confidence in institutions, control costs, and shift the focus of higher education back to academic excellence rather than ideological agendas.
This legislative stance against DEI is not new in Iowa, a conservative stronghold where Republicans have held a supermajority in the Legislature since 2017.
The party’s influence grew even further following the 2024 elections. Since 2021, Iowa has prohibited public colleges from mandating training that teaches systemic racism or sexism, and this year, lawmakers passed a sweeping DEI ban as part of the state budget.
The law, effective in July, requires public colleges to eliminate any DEI-related activities beyond what is necessary for federal or accreditation standards.
Even before the law passed, the Iowa Board of Regents had already prohibited campus-wide DEI initiatives not tied to legal or accreditation requirements. However, the law now formalizes these restrictions, defining DEI activities as those linked to race, color, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Governor Kim Reynolds further solidified this stance by signing a law in May that bans public colleges from taking an official position on issues like allyship, systemic oppression, and racial privilege.
Critics, such as Pen America, have raised concerns about the broad scope of these laws, arguing that the vague language could severely limit academic freedom by restricting the discussion of nearly any social justice-related topic.
The group’s October report warned that such legislation could stifle free expression and academic discourse in Iowa’s universities.