Iowa’s state-mandated Center for Intellectual Freedom is set to begin academic sessions in the spring, though the department plans to kick things off with a winter summit focused on transforming higher education.
The inaugural “Reforming Universities Summit” will be held Friday, Dec. 5 and Saturday, Dec. 6 at the Old Capitol Museum and The Iowa Memorial Union.
The Center for Intellectual Freedom intends to “create a community dedicated to an ethic of civil and free inquiry, which respects the intellectual freedom of each member, supports individual capacities for growth and welcomes differences of opinion that naturally exist in a public university community.”
The center’s first public event will feature speakers, networking opportunities, and a keynote speaker. Notable attendees include members of the center’s advisory council, Gov. Reynolds, and former Iowa Board of Regent and current U.S. Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education David Barker.
“[Participants] will share insights, spark discussion, and foster collaboration on how to reform higher education at universities across the country,” the Center’s event description says. “Their diverse perspectives promise a dynamic and thought-provoking program for all attendees.”
“Cocktails in the Capitol” will begin at 4:45 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6 inside the Old Capitol. The Center has not yet released additional details on the two-day summit.
Center for Intellectual Freedom offering courses on American politics, values
The Center for Intellectual Freedom, academically, will roll out three six-week classes in the spring.
The courses will cover two subjects, each featuring a series of nearly two-hour lectures hosted by interim Center for Intellectual Freedom director Luciano de Castro. A class on political and economic institutions in the United States will be offered twice, in January and March, while the other class in March will focus on American culture and values.
The center’s 26-member advisory council held its first meeting Tuesday, Nov. 18 via zoom, hoping to strike a balance between academia and politics as the initial semester approaches.
UI’s Intellectual Freedom council seeks political, academic balance
Finding a balance between politics and academics sparked debate among the members.
The meeting came a few days after the Iowa Board of Regents chose to delay approval of the center’s bylaws for concerns with who would control the advisory committee and a lack of council input.
Tuesday’s gathering was used to amend a few bylaws, introduce the advisory members to one another and to create a nine-person executive committee. The committee contains five scholars in addition to four other members, which included regents and lawmakers.
Councilmember Liz Mathis, one of three Democrats and one of two women on the board which independents and Republicans dominate, raised concerns about political balance.
“In designing the executive committee, since there are already five faculty members, the four people who are non-faculty should at least have a balance,” Mathis said. “That’s all I’m asking for, is fairness in that.”
Council Advisory Chair and Iowa Board of Regent, Chris Hensley suggested expanding the executive committee to promote fairness and balance. Others argued that politics should not be a factor in selecting the executive committee, whose primary goal is to oversee the search for a director.
“I am concerned at the suggestion that every single committee somehow has to meet the political representation requirement,” said Tom Gallanis, a law professor at George Mason University, during Tuesday’s nearly three-hour meeting. “That isn’t my understanding of Iowa law. That requirement applies to the advisory council as a whole,” “For the executive committee, we shouldn’t be making decisions based on politics. We want an executive committee that’s going to be the best decision to discharge the functions of the executive committee.”
Several scholars emphasized the center’s goal to be an academic institution, not a political one, despite having the University of Iowa’s only advisory board mandated by law.
“This is not a fundamentally political operation. It is fundamentally a matter of academic norms and intellectual quality,” Mark Bauerlein, professor emeritus of English at Emory University, said. “To call it politics is to introduce precisely the degradation and distortion that has led to the necessity of centers like this in the first place.”
The nine-person executive committee will include Hensley, Mathis, former Gov. Terry Branstad, and Heart of America Group CEO Mike Whalen. The scholar side includes University of Texas at Austin associate professor of finance Richard Lowery, Stanford University professors Iván Marinovic and Joshua Rauh, and Bauerlein and Gallanis.
“This is an exciting opportunity for the state of Iowa,” Hensley said. “We’re all learning our way here. We may not have it 100% right, but I can guarantee you, from my perspective, that we’re going to make sure that we do get it right.”
UI advisory council makes changes to the previously tabled bylaws
The Center for Intellectual Freedom was born out of House File 437, a measure GOP lawmakers championed to encourage varied perspectives on college campuses, which they say are overwhelmingly liberal.
Under the statute, the center’s fulltime director will report directly to the Iowa Board of Regents rather than UI President Barbara Wilson.
The bulk of Tuesday’s advisory meeting was spent updating the center’s bylaws, which were approved by a slight majority, 10 to 7.
A significant amendment requires the center director to acquire approval from both the advisory council and the Board of Regents to “develop policies and procedures for the Center,” a step not originally in the bylaws.
Similar language was added to the section on finances.
(This article has been updated to fix an inaccuracy)
Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and education reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at JRish@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rishjessica_
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: UI’s Center for Intellectual Freedom winter summit will focus on ‘reforming universities’
Reporting by Jessica Rish, Iowa City Press-Citizen / Iowa City Press-Citizen
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