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IOWA CITY In a video she viewed on Fox News late Tuesday, a University of Iowa employee openly acknowledges violating the DEI regulations I signed into law on May 9, 2024. Governor Kim Reynolds denounced the video.
Additionally, Brenna Bird, the attorney general of Iowa, announced Wednesday that she had launched an investigation.
The UI employee identified in the Fox News clip as Andrea Tinoco, assistant director of UI Leadership and Student Organization Development, stated in the video, which seems to have been taken without her knowledge, that “we have to redo our websites for the regents to take off diversity, equity, inclusion, anything like that, any like buzzwords.” This may have happened in February or March.
In the Fox tape, she stated, “So they swept our websites.” Thus, it is absent. In essence, however, we are figuring out how to work around it. That was our answer, then.
Reynolds brought up a letter she sent to the Board of Regents on January 23 urging university officials to adhere to both state law and a signed executive order by President Trump that ends the execution of DEI policies at public institutions in her remarks on Tuesday.
Reynolds announced on Tuesday that he would be sending this case to Attorney General Brenna Bird for her consideration in light of Iowa’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Act.
The use of state monies for DEI offices and staffers is one of the broad restrictions on DEI programs that the governor signed into law in May. These restrictions apply to all Iowa cities, counties, K–12 public schools, and community institutions.
Legislators had enacted Senate File 2435 the year before, which prohibited DEI-related expenditures at Iowa’s public colleges, including staffing training, while establishing exceptions for accrediting standards and compliance with state and federal laws.
Immediate and comprehensive investigation
Bird noted on Wednesday that Regent universities must abide by our state legislation, including as the Iowa Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Act (Iowa Code Chapter 261J, Iowa Code Chapter 19), as well as an Executive Order signed by President Trump on January 22, 2025, in response to Reynolds’ referral.
We have started an investigation after receiving the governor’s complaint against the University of Iowa.
Speaking to the board at a prearranged meeting on Wednesday, UI President Barbara Wilson stated that her university is taking the accusations seriously and has started an immediate and thorough investigation of its own.
Wilson added that in order to coordinate our efforts in the investigation of this matter, we have also contacted the Attorney General’s Office and the board office.
Reynolds’ remarks on Tuesday come as the Trump administration continues what some academics have called an assault on higher education, with the White House requesting that prominent universities like Harvard and Columbia University comply with a litany of requirements in order to continue receiving federal funding.
In a further example, the Department of Justice accused James Ryan, the president of the University of Virginia, this month of attempting to circumvent and violate federal antidiscrimination rules. Ryan resigned as a result of the threat to withhold federal funding.
The most combative
Tinoco said in remarks captured on what appeared to be a July 2 video that the institution is substituting terms like civic engagement for DEI.
We’re not permitted to use this word, it seems. She said, “All right, we’re just going to do this.” For this reason, DEI will not be mentioned on any University of Iowa website.
However, Tinoco informed the individual filming the video that this did not imply that the task was no longer being done.
She stated, “I’m still going to say DEI as part of the content that I’m teaching.” In my classes, I say it. I don’t give a damn.
In terms of political resistance, Tinoco also described the University of Iowa as perhaps the most aggressive of the three public universities in the state.
She stated, “We are always the university that is more like, No, we’re not going to do that.” I will admit that I am proud of the battle, even if our website was only cleaned this spring. For me, the fact that it didn’t happen until this most recent break spoke a lot, even if you aren’t seeing it in an email chain or something like.
Reynolds appoints the nine volunteer regents to six-year terms, and Tinoco highlighted the lack of diversity among them in the video.
She later spoke openly about the spending that is illegal, saying, “I looked them up once after someone told me to, and it was just a bunch of white people.”
“They have student employees and are hiring for their team,” she said. Thus, funds are being allocated to it. For example, these centers employ individuals.
The story is still evolving. Return for additional information.
Vanessa Miller writes for The Gazette on higher education.
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