Katherine H. Tachau, Edward Wasserman and Ann Rhodes
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The right of the people to express opinions free from government interference is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. So it was disappointing to see the right of free speech weaponized in a recent hearing held by the Iowa House Government Oversight Committee. (“‘Unsafe just because they disagree’: University of Iowa dean apologizes for infringing on rights of conservatives on campus,” Feb. 3).
In that hearing, Dean David Johnsen of the University of Iowa s College of Dentistry apologized to the committee for his actions last fall when he and other faculty circulated a memo to the college deploring an Executive Order issued by then-President Donald Trump. The order prohibited recipients of federal funding from offering certain kinds of training on diversity and white privilege, and teachers at recipient institutions from “endorsing” ideas that the government defined as “divisive co
GOP Lawmakers: Public Universities Hostile To Conservatives kiwaradio.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kiwaradio.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Trump’s controversial diversity training order is dead – or is it? Colleges are still feeling its effects. Chris Quintana, USA TODAY
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An overturned executive order from President Trump focused on banning some forms of diversity training is still sparking debate on college campuses.
Many universities scrambled to comply with the controversial order last year, which would have prevented the federal government and its contractors from offering diversity training that Trump had called divisive. Biden has since overturned the order, but it had already tapped into a live vein of distrust among right-leaning voters who fear colleges are not teaching their students, but rather indoctrinating them.
University of Iowa dean apologizes to conservative student after stifling freedom of speech
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Karen TownsendPosted at 11:31 am on February 6, 2021
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The dean of the UI College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics at the University of Iowa issued an apology to a conservative dental student this week. The kerfuffle happened back in October over an executive order signed by President Trump in September to end some diversity and inclusion training on federally funded college campuses. The dean criticized Trump’s action and then tried to deny a conservative student’s right to voice his opinion of the dean’s behavior.
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GOP lawmakers air campus free speech concerns
Holly Brink
A group of Republican legislators say conservative students at Iowa’s public universities are complaining to them that they’re being harassed on campus because of their political views.
Representative Holly Brink, a Republican from Oskaloosa, convened a Government Oversight Committee hearing this week with administrators from the three schools.
“Iowa State, UNI, and the University of Iowa you are here for Iowans. Iowa is not here for you,” Brink said. “And we will continue to protect and make sure that things are going right for students and the next generation.”