Leftists at Iowa’s biggest universities have apparently decided that when the law says “end DEI,” it really means play word games until someone notices. Videos [1] from Accuracy in Media caught staffers at both the University of Iowa and Iowa State University casually bragging about reimagining DEI programs and finding “loopholes” to keep the ideology entrenched.
After President Trump banned DEI nationwide and Governor Kim Reynolds signed Iowa’s law cutting taxpayer-funding for DEI officers, you’d think universities would get the message. Instead, staffers talk like kids caught sneaking cookies from the jar. They’re just renaming positions and departments (“Office of Multicultural Student Affairs”), shuffling job titles, and keeping the same agenda alive.
Protect the Public’s Trust [2] filed a federal complaint, noting that one employee even referenced their university president’s role in keeping DEI alive. That means this isn’t just rogue staffers freelancing ideology – it’s institutional.
The irony? The entire justification for DEI is “fairness.” Yet, the practice of ducking state and federal law looks a lot more like favoritism for activists than equality for students. Real diversity means allowing ideas to compete – not creating bureaucratic shadow programs designed to prop up one ideology at all costs. But that’s the difference between equity (DEI) and REAL equality.
Bottom line: Iowa lawmakers pulled the plug on DEI, but instead of respecting the law, universities are playing word games in order to keep their leftist programs going. Same agenda, different label with taxpayers still footing the bill – until they are stopped.