OAN Staff Blake Wolf
9:25am – Monday, December 30, 2024
The University of Iowa says it plans to close its School of Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies as the public university begins scaling back its DEI programs.
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“Under the proposed plan, the university would close the departments of American Studies and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, as well as the American Studies and Social Justice majors with a combined current enrollment of less than 60 students, and create new majors. in sociocultural analysis,” the university said in a statement.
The University of Iowa added: “The proposed move is part of a multi-year administrative restructuring of the University aimed at better serving students and faculty.”
The university's policy change comes after the Iowa Board of Regents approved 10 measures to scale back its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) program.
“We are excited to reposition these programs for the future,” said Sarah Sanders, dean of the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
“The creation of Sociocultural Analysis allows us to build on our tremendous legacy in an area that is essential to our mission, while also creating space for a more sustainable structure and innovative new curriculum. ” she continued.
Rep. Taylor Collins, R-Iowa, praised the move and slammed DEI efforts as a “waste” of taxpayer money.
“This is a perfect example of the wasteful spending that Congress is talking about,” Collins said. “We have entire departments focused on promoting ideological agendas, with no benefit to the state’s voters or taxpayers.”
Collins went on to ensure that the Iowa House Committee on Higher Education directs the Board of Regents to conduct a “complete review” of the academic programs they preside to meet the needs of state employees.
“Our Board of Regents and the University of Iowa know that the Higher Learning Commission is going to look at this issue, so we're trying to put out the fire before it actually starts in Des Moines.” Collins added.
However, some staff in the School of Gender, Women and Sexuality said they were “disappointed” by the changes.
“We've seen the major grow,” said Lina Maria Murillo, an assistant professor at the university. “In fact, social justice has been one of the fastest growing majors among the units being restructured in the new Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, because it's clear that students want these courses. , it's still a shame.”
“Our purpose as scholars and thinkers is not to indoctrinate people with some ideology, but to provide them with a space to think freely,” Murillo continued.
“No one is forcing students to take these classes if they don't want to take them. The University of Iowa has hundreds of courses for students to choose from,” she added. “Minimizing courses on gender, women, and sexuality studies, African American studies, and Latin American, Latino, and Latino studies censors what students’ education is like. How, and that's a problem for me.”
Proposal to roll back efforts could take effect July 1cent2025 if approved at the board meeting in February.
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