Iowa House passes bill to limit DEI at public universities

On Feb. 29, the Iowa House of Representatives voted to prohibit university staff positions dedicated to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).

House File 2558, also known as the Higher Education Reform Act of 2024, passed 56–39 and will now be sent to the Iowa Senate. 

[RELATED: University of Florida fires all DEI employees, eliminates department]

The bill’s passage comes after the Iowa Board of Regents voted to approve a series of recommendations in November, including proposals to eliminate DEI roles “that are not necessary for compliance or accreditation.”

The legislation directs public universities in Iowa to “structure university-wide diversity, equity, and inclusion offices to prohibit any diversity, equity, and inclusion function that is not necessary for compliance with federal or state laws or accreditation.”

“The institutions of higher education shall make the support services that are provided by such offices broadly available to all students and employees, subject to applicable federal and state eligibility requirements,” the proposed law continues.

HF 2558 would also prohibit mandatory DEI-based statements for applicants, students, employees, and campus visitors.

Iowa state representative Taylor Collins, the bill’s floor manager, said that DEI positions are harmful to the purpose of the university.

“Whether they were created with good intentions or not, it has become clear that they now are ideological enforcement centers that suppress the pursuit of truth and, most importantly, merit,” Collins said.

In January, Campus Reform interviewed Collins and discussed DEI at public universities in Iowa, among other topics.

Collins identified four DEI positions with a total salary of more than $750,000. He also stated that “Some of these DEI bureaucrats [are] totally focused on peddling their own ideological agenda.”

[RELATED: UNT removes university-sponsored ‘Pride Week’ events to comply with anti-DEI law]

Collins noted, “[I]f we see that DEI is still being peddled on our public universities, I can tell you right now, we’re not just gonna go ahead and continue to write blank checks.”

Iowa joins a growing list of states that have taken steps to restrict or eliminate DEI at public universities in recent weeks, including Kentucky, Idaho, Kansas, and Utah.

Campus Reform has contacted the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.