Iowa Republicans question public colleges on diversity spending

Republicans in the Iowa State House polled the presidents of three public universities on their spending on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), the Monks Register reported.

The presidents of Iowa State, the University of Iowa, and the University of Northern Iowa spoke with the Iowa Education Appropriations Subcommittee to to present initiatives for next year and to ask for a budget increase.

Rep. Taylor Collins, R-Mediapolis, asked the three how much their institutions’ top diversity, equity and inclusion directors were paid before estimating that about $750,000 had been spent on the three universities.

Collins said, “I just struggle when I see a request for $32 million and find $750,000 for four people.”

Meanwhile, Iowa State University President Wendy Wintersteen noted that “we are seeing an increasingly diverse population at each of our institutions.”

Rep. Carter Nordman, R-Adel said, “We are interested in looking at all aspects of taxpayer dollars being spent at our Regent Universities. Everything,” including “What they spend on programs, DEI, other administrative costs. We are interested not only in how much we appropriate, but also how those appropriate dollars are spent in our regents.

Several other Republican leaders from different states have demanded to know how much money has been spent on DEI initiatives in an effort to increase transparency. In South Carolina, for example, lawmakers are asking information on “all expenditures on programs, training and activities targeting people based on their race, ethnic origin or sexual orientation”. The institutions have been instructed to provide the information by Thursday 23 February.

Meanwhile, in Oklahoma, State Superintendent Ryan Walters required to find out how much money was spent on DEI programs at public colleges in the state. The demands revealed that public universities in Oklahoma should spend more than $10 million on DEI initiatives in the current fiscal year, of which $3.7 million came from the state.

A similar request was made in Florida, where it was revealed that public universities in the state spent a whopping $28 million on the DEI and Critical Race Theory initiatives, including $15 million in public funds.

Diversity, equity and inclusion programs have become increasingly common in universities and the broader corporate world, with MSNBC reports that the “DEI market” was worth an astonishing $9.5 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow to $15.4 billion by 2026.

Spencer Lindquist is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerLndqst and reach out to slindquist@breitbart.com.