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President Donald Trump has demolished federal subsidies for radical “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) programming. But until state lawmakers in Iowa act as well, students will still be forced to take courses intended to indoctrinate students in the poisonous ideology behind DEI.

Iowa’s public universities are not immune from the destructive effects of DEI. Governor Kim Reynolds recently sent a letter to the presidents of Iowa’s three public universities, making clear that state laws and President Trump’s executive orders require the universities to eliminate DEI offices, policies, and employees. But despite these welcome actions, DEI still maintains a strong and toxic presence in Iowa’s universities through course requirements that force students into politicized DEI courses simply to obtain a degree.

For example, Iowa State University mandates that all undergraduates take one course in the category of “U.S. Cultures and Communities.” Despite this innocuous-sounding title, a closer look reveals its activist agenda. Courses fulfilling this requirement are directed to include “intersectional understandings of diversity,” and students are expected to “analyze systemic oppression and personal prejudice and their impact on marginalized communities and the broader U.S. society.”

This requirement goes beyond the uncontroversial goal of educating students about different cultures. The emphasis on the “systemic oppression” of groups in American society makes the political agenda clear: students must be taught that the United States is a systemically bigoted country, which justifies radical action to replace the American constitutional system with something more equitable.

In addition to having an obvious political agenda, this course requirement wastes an enormous amount of taxpayer and tuition money. The Goldwater Institute, where I work, found that satisfying Iowa State’s DEI mandate costs students and state taxpayers approximately $26 million over each four-year period in which the student body has to complete the requirement. This is $26 million that could be spent promoting more academically serious coursework or streamlining the completion of students’ degrees.

No student seeking a degree at a public university should be forced to take courses that promote an activist agenda over more rigorous academic pursuits. President Trump’s executive orders explicitly (and appropriately) exempted academic instruction in higher education from protections against discriminatory DEI practices. Oversight of the academic curriculum rightly belongs to the states, not the federal government. Iowa legislators must act to end mandatory political indoctrination in academic coursework.

Fortunately, legislative champions in Iowa have introduced a bill that puts an end to politicized DEI course requirements. Under this bill, public universities may not force students into DEI courses as a condition of obtaining any degree or certificate. The bill also protects academic freedom by preventing universities from instructing faculty to “diversify” their courses by curating materials based on the race, sex, or gender identity of authors.

By passing this legislation, Iowa would join others who have rid their state of ideological indoctrination. Florida successfully eliminated DEI courses from general education requirements this fall, and several other states, including Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Arizona, have recently introduced legislation to eliminate DEI course mandates.

Even if public institutions immediately ended all other formal DEI practices, DEI course requirements would ensure that indoctrination in this poisonous ideology continues unabated. By protecting students from mandatory classroom indoctrination, Iowa can complete the counterattack against DEI and return public institutions to their core missions: the pursuit of truth and the education of citizens.

Timothy K. Minella is a Senior Fellow at the Goldwater Institute’s Van Sittert Center for Constitutional Advocacy. He previously served on the faculty of the Lewis Honors College at the University of Kentucky, and has also taught at Emory University and Villanova University.

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