Iowa Now Has the Nation’s ‘Most Extreme’ Anti-DEI Law. Here’s What It Does

• Iowa's latest budget includes a ban on DEI offices at public colleges and universities in the state.
• It also limits the topics university administrators can take official stances on or promote.
• One free speech advocate said Iowa now has the most restrictive anti-DEI policy in the country.
• The provision does not, however, affect faculty or student speech.

Laws restricting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts at colleges aren't uncommon in 2024, but free speech advocates say Iowa's latest legislative move is among the most extreme.

Republican Gov. Kimberly Reynolds signed the state's $8.9 billion budget into law on May 9, which sets aside just over $1 billion for K-12 and higher education. The budget includes a provision that doesn't just ban DEI offices at state colleges and universities. It also limits the types of positions and viewpoints an institution can promote in any way.

The budget includes a list of widely contested opinions that institutions cannot hold a position on, including:

The budget ends this list by adding or any related formulation of these concepts.

Jeremy Young, Freedom to Learn program director at the free speech advocacy group PEN America, told BestColleges this is now the most extreme law in the country restricting DEI on college campuses.

Iowa's provision mirrors a template put forth by the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, Young said. It's a model that other states, including Nebraska, have deemed too extreme to copy as is.

That is basically a license to ban any idea, he said. In a maximal interpretation of this law ... the university could not safely express any idea without potentially violating the law.

Young clarified that this provision does not impede faculty or student speech. It also has a carve-out so that DEI initiatives required by accreditation agencies or federal laws won't be disbanded.

What the new change does forbid is a university publicizing or promoting events that touch on the list of forbidden topics, he said. So, if a student invited a guest speaker to lead a seminar on social justice, or if a professor published a book about implicit bias, the university would not be allowed to speak about either event.

This is a forced neutrality provision. It requires the university to be neutral on a variety of positions, Young said. That's fine if they do it on their own, but it's never a good idea to legislate it.

The law gives the Iowa Legislature the power to withhold funds from public colleges and universities it deems are promoting widely contested opinions.

Young added that the new provision doesn't go as far as other states in restricting student and faculty speech. Still, it may have a chilling effect on speech if universities err on the side of caution and begin to change courses due to fear of being reprimanded.

We have seen an avalanche of over-compliance from universities scared of being targeted by these anti-DEI bans, he said.

Anti-DEI laws like Iowa's largely go against what most college students prefer. A BestColleges survey of undergraduate and graduate students found that 75% favor efforts to support DEI on campuses. Only 26% said they support legislative efforts to limit the promotion of DEI.

A BestColleges analysis of state laws found that eight states have laws limiting DEI efforts at colleges and universities.

Iowa's board of regents approved a plan to eliminate most DEI initiatives across public colleges in the state in November 2023.