The Old Capitol building on the University of Iowa campus in Iowa City. (Photo courtesy of University of Iowa)
Former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad spoke Tuesday at a subcommittee meeting in support of legislation that would launch a “school of intellectual freedom” at the University of Iowa, countering critics who cited wastefulness and ideological drive.
House Study Bill 52 would place the school in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and have it staffed by five faculty members. Instruction would consist of “the historical ideas, traditions and texts that have shaped the American constitutional order and society,” according to the legislation, and the school would offer programming on free speech and civil discourse while fostering intellectual diversity and civic engagement.
Rep. Taylor Collins, R-Mediapolis, chaired the subcommittee alongside Rep. Dave Jacoby, D-Coralville, and Rep. Heather Hora, R-Washington.
Branstad, a UI alum, joined the subcommittee meeting to speak in support of the bill. He said a school like the one proposed in the legislation is “truly needed.”
“The reason for the bill is the future of our country is dependent on citizens that are well informed and cherish and celebrate the American heritage, and that’s something that I think is really important for our country, especially in this day and age when we see a lot of concern and a lot of lack of … respect for other viewpoints,” Branstad said.
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Iowa Board of Regents and UI representative Keith Saunders said in the meeting the university is already working to establish a center for civic dialogue and leadership, and has submitted plans to the board of regents to be discussed at its February meeting. It will be similar to the center already approved at the University of Northern Iowa and one in development at Iowa State University, as they were brought forward at the direction of the board of regents.
Andy Conlin, speaking in the meeting for the Cicero Institute and the Foundation for Government Accountability, said he was happy to hear the UI would be moving in the direction of its sister universities and codifying this bill’s legislation would ensure the new center would remain in perpetuity. Florida, Ohio, Texas and Tennessee have also passed bills like this one for its universities, he said, with positive results.
UI alum Emma Denney called the bill “pointless” during public comment, saying she doesn’t get how someone could look at the UI’s academic programming in its departments of history and American studies and think the university isn’t teaching what this school would be required to offer.
Denney and another speaker said they believe the legislation is an ideological project motivated by the Legislature’s disagreement with diversity, equity and inclusion on campus.
“I find this a laughable and ridiculous waste of money, time and resources, and I, frankly, find it ideologically motivated and pathetic,” Denney said.
Branstad responded to Denney’s comments by saying her view is “your way or the highway,” adding his belief that most of the political science teachers at the UI where he studied were socialists but that “all viewpoints should be represented.”
Jacoby started out his comments on the legislation by asking who was chair of the committee, Collins or Branstad, and said he was just practicing his civil discourse by seeking clarification. He questioned the use of the term “intellectual freedom,” which he interpreted to mean that hate speech is free speech, and said this legislation feels more like one meant for the national stage and not for Iowa.
Drawing from the Manhattan Institute presentation given to the higher education committee previously, Jacoby said the survey policy analyst Neetu Arnold conducted to learn about the issues plaguing Iowa higher education included only 50 people, or less than 1% of the state population. Jacoby said it concerns him to think the Legislature would craft bills based off the wants of such a small group.
He also took umbrage with the fact that the legislation only names the UI, rather than all of the state universities, and said he has drafted amendments to add them as well as private universities who take students in the Iowa Tuition Grant program to the bill.
“I like intellectual freedom. I like freedom if it’s intellectual. The definition of intellectual, which is helpful at times … is the use of intellect, developed by facts and cause, not emotion,” Jacoby said. “This seems to be a little bit of an emotional bill in my … civil discourse opinion.”
The bill passed out of subcommittee with support from Collins and Hora, who was in caucus at the time. It will head to the Iowa House Higher Education Committee for further consideration.
“I think this was a good exercise in civic dialogue,” Collins said.
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