Iowa Board of Regents tries banning university courses that teach about social justice

The Iowa Legislature passed a bill this session banning diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and trainings by “public entities,” including Iowa’s public universities.

And they spelled out exactly what they don’t want us to learn about:

• “unconscious or implicit bias,
• cultural appropriation,
• allyship,
• transgender ideology,
• microaggressions,
• group marginalization,
• anti-racism,
• systemic oppression,
• social justice,
• intersectionality,
• neopronouns,
• heteronormativity,
• disparate impact,
• gender theory,
• racial privilege,
• sexual privilege,
• or any related formulation of these concepts.”

The legislation did not ban professors from teaching courses on those concepts. But that didn’t stop the Iowa Board of Regents from trying to ban it themselves, using virtually the same language.

The first reading of the new proposal was this week.

University of Northern Iowa’s faculty union, United Faculty, came out to oppose it, saying it would “censor university faculty and bend Iowa’s public universities and their curricula to an agenda that undermines critical inquiry, free speech, and student choice.”

“The end result will be censorship by the government … choosing what we can and cannot say in a classroom, undermining academic freedom and freedom of speech,” UF President Christopher Martin told the Regents at their meeting. “This proposal is literally against the law.”

Christopher Martin, president of United Faculty, the faculty union of the University of Northern Iowa, speaks to the Iowa Board of Regents at their June 11, 2025, meeting in Iowa City.

The University of Iowa’s graduate student worker union, COGS, protested outside of this week’s meeting, saying programs across the board would be affected, including history, social work, English, and education.

“It is an unacceptable encroachment on First Amendment rights and the free exchange of ideas vital to a vibrant and healthy academic environment. And it does not reflect values held by the University of Iowa community,” COGS said in a release. “The Board of Regents is bending to political pressure from state and federal administrations.”

The Board said it would continue to discuss the issue at future meetings.

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