Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird launched an investigation Wednesday into the University of Iowa for allegedly violating a state law that restricts diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds filed a complaint with Bird’s office Wednesday morning based on an “undercover” video posted by Fox News. In it, a UI employee appears to describe how university officials have allegedly found ways around DEI restrictions.
A state law passed last year prohibits Iowa’s public universities from having DEI offices or staff.
The UI employee is identified in the video as Andrea Tinoco, assistant director of Leadership and Student Organization Development. Tinoco said that diversity, equity and inclusion and related terms were removed from university websites.
“It’s not there, but we are essentially finding ways to operate around it, so that was our solution,” Tinoco said. “We were like, ‘Oh OK, we can’t use that word? OK. Civic engagement.’”
In the video shared by Fox News, Tinoco does not appear to know that she is being recorded. It’s not clear who shot the video, and it was edited to remove parts of the conversation.
“We’re still going to talk about DEI, we’re still going to do all the DEI things,” Tinoco said later in the video.
Reynolds submitted the video to Bird for her review.
“I’m appalled by the remarks made in this video by a University of Iowa employee who blatantly admits to defying DEI restrictions I signed into law on May 9, 2024,” Reynolds said in a statement.
According to the law, the attorney general can ask a court to order the university to comply with DEI restrictions.
University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson addressed the investigation during Wednesday’s Board of Regents meeting. She said the university takes the allegations very seriously and launched its own investigation with the intent of working with the regents and the attorney general’s office.
“If at any point we find that policies or laws have been violated, we will take the necessary corrective actions without hesitation,” Wilson said.
Board of Regents supports the AG’s investigation
Board of Regents President Sherry Bates said it is “unacceptable” for faculty and staff to not follow laws regarding DEI.
“Any attempt to skirt the law needs to be dealt with swiftly,” she said. “The board fully supports the attorney general’s review and will take any action needed to correct this very problematic situation.”
Regent David Barker criticized Bates and Mike Richards, the former board president, for not allowing him to monitor universities’ compliance with DEI restrictions. He said he understands their concerns about “micromanaging” the state’s public universities.
“But in some cases, the board needs to take more direct action,” Barker said. “Having worked with university administrations on DEI for several months, I did not have confidence that all of them would faithfully execute our directives.”
He said the video and other reports he’s received were “predictable” and show that there is still more work to do.
Regent Christine Hensley said she appreciated Wilson’s statement.
“I also feel very strongly that the way this is handled will really dictate a lot in the future for the University of Iowa,” she said. “So I hope we are as aggressive as we can possibly be in dealing with this.”
