Days before University of Iowa students left campus for spring break, a blue banner was added over the Division of Access, Opportunity, and Diversity, or AOD, webpage, announcing the department’s closure effective March 27.
The banner cites comments made by the president of the Iowa Board of Regents, Sherry Bates, in February as directions to close the department. Within these comments, Bates discussed the changing state and federal landscape and Iowa’s higher education institutions’ actions to “stay ahead of the curve and not play catch-up.”
For the UI, these actions included restructuring and renaming the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, eliminating identity-based LLCs, disbanding the UI diversity council, canceling courses for the Iowa Edge Course, and eliminating 11 full-time DEI positions.
Now, the formerly known Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion will be permanently closed. According to Elizabeth Edwards, an associate peer leader with Iowa Edge, the timing of this is akin to when the university announced the closure of RVAP a month before finals in April 2024.
“They’re really trying to diminish the amount of student pushback or protesting on campus by really timing it right before spring break,” Edwards said. “Which is something I was kind of mad about because the university has done this before.”
Edwards also expressed her surprise at the lack of warning provided to student workers whose jobs were connected to the AOD, including peer leaders with Iowa Edge and front desk workers at the AOD, who Edwards said were only notified of the closure the day the decision was announced publicly.
Elle Wilmoth, a senior at UI and a former Iowa Edge mentee, was also shocked when they learned about the decision to close the department through social media posts.
“They’re taking away such a large source of resources, especially with how well [AOD] directs you to different departments in the university,” Wilmoth said. “They’re great to help streamline where you actually need to go to get the help that you need.”
Richelle Fenteng, a junior at the UI and a former Iowa Edge mentee, echoed these sentiments, mentioning how the resources within the department were also a useful tool for students, especially out-of-state students who come to campus knowing nobody.
“Freshman year, that was my main resource to go on campus to make friends,” Fenteng said. “I would go there for food or just to talk to the advisors because I had an advisor there, and it’s what really got me connected to the university because I didn’t know anyone coming here, and Iowa Edge was the very first thing I did.”
While the AOD is closed, according to a press release from the UI, certain units within the department required by state and federal law, like the Office of Civil Rights Compliance or OCRC, TRIO Student Support Services, and the TRIO Upward Bound program, will continue to be recognized by the university and will be reassigned.
OCRC, formerly known as the Office of Institutional Equity, ensures campus-wide compliance with federal and state laws related to discrimination, bias, sexual misconduct, free speech, harassment, disability, and equal employment opportunity through its resources and programs. TRIO refers to a federal outreach program that serves students from disadvantaged backgrounds and consists of three separate programs: Upward Bound, Talent Search, and Student Support Services.
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Effective March 27, OCRC will report to the associate vice president for administrative affairs in the Office of the President. The TRIO Student Support Services and TRIO Upward Bound program will move to the University College within the Office of the Provost.
As for other resources and functions within the AOD, these will be eliminated or reviewed by the university, which leaves the fate of programs like Iowa Edge, an orientation program for incoming college students, uncertain.
In an email to The Daily Iowan, Steve Schmadeke, the public relations manager at the UI, wrote the university currently has nothing to share about the fate of Iowa Edge.
However, as Edwards mentioned, the AOD was a resource for student organizations to host events, a study area for students, and a resource for free printing on campus. And while the cultural houses are still places where these resources are provided, and student organizations like Queer Trans People of Color, Black Student Union, Latino Student Union, and Cross-Cultural Student Coalition still exist as spaces to find community, students at the UI are still mourning the loss of AOD.
“I definitely think that [AOD] is an important resource, especially for minorities going to a predominantly white institution,” Fenteng said. “It’s kind of hard finding your community here, and even though the exact building itself didn’t have a severe impact on finding my community, the programs that were offered by the institution provided a lot of resources for me. I think it’s sad that some of the community at this university are being singled out for their identity when they’re human beings.”