CEDAR FALLS — The Iowa Board of Regents moved forward with appointing a 26-member advisory board for the proposed Center for Intellectual Freedom at the University of Iowa on Wednesday and will vote on the appointment on Thursday.
The new board, if appointed, will consist of 11 Republicans, three Democrats, and 12 registered independents, Regent Christine Hensley, who is a registered Republican and will chair the board, said on Wednesday.
Created by Iowa lawmakers during the 2025 legislative session, the advisory board will make recommendations regarding the creation and operation of the new center.
Lawmakers honed in on Iowa’s higher education policy during the last legislative session, with Republicans championing the creation of the Center for Intellectual Freedom in an effort to reduce perceived biases in higher education and promote free speech.
The law went into effect on July 1, and the regents have a $1 million appropriation from the state to get the center up and running.
The regents have already appointed interim director Luciano de Castro, who is also an economics professor at the UI, to lead the center while they launch a national search to find a permanent director.
The center will teach classes and research the “historical ideas, tradition, and texts that have shaped the American constitutional order and society,” according to the Iowa Code.
The bill would also require the center to offer university-wide programming on free speech and civil discourse.
However, members of the public and Regent Nancy Dunkel pointed out that the advisory board failed to include many Democrats. Dunkel argued that the lack of Democrats does not make the board balanced.
Among those appointed to the board, 13 were Iowans, two were women, and the rest were members of national think tanks, including the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, and prominent conservative faculty from around the country.
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Dunkel said the makeup of the advisory board does not sit right with her, with many of the people from outside the state of Iowa.
“If we’re voting on this day, but we don’t even know these people and those that are on the board, you’re having your vote diluted by bringing people, non-Iowans, onto the board,” Dunkel said. “I can see that you’d want to go get advice from groups of people, but to actually name them to an advisory committee?”
Olivia Jones, a graduate student researcher at the UI, said during public comment on Wednesday that the structure of the center will prohibit effective research, with the director of the center answering to the regents and not the institution.
“This will make it difficult for the institution to do effective research, which will drive away promising professors, students, and researchers,” Jones said. “While the new center is being established, other schools and programs are being merged. What is it about these merging programs that the regents do not see as valuable enough to support these areas of study?”The regents also approved the closing of three graduate programs at the UI on Wednesday.