Dear Hawkeyes,

For more than a year, the University of Iowa has been working diligently to comply with directives from the Iowa Board of Regents as well as changes to state law that require us to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programming and initiatives. Since January, the university has also taken steps to ensure compliance with new federal directives. 

Our responsibility as a public university is to support all of our students, faculty, and staff regardless of their race, religion, sex, nationality, or political beliefs. To do so we must infuse a culture across our campus that rejects the use of litmus tests to determine which faculty, staff, and students we support. We help them all. 

As you may be aware, videos have surfaced that raise concerns regarding compliance with university policies and applicable laws. I want to assure you that the university takes these concerns with the utmost seriousness.

Faith in our institution depends on our unwavering commitment to upholding state and federal laws as well as the policies set forth by our governing board. The expectations we have for our faculty and staff are clear and uncompromising: We adhere to the highest standards of conduct, accountability, and transparency.

In response, we have launched an immediate and comprehensive investigation. Additionally, we have reached out to the Board of Regents office and to the Iowa Attorney General’s office to coordinate our efforts. 

This investigation is being conducted in accordance with our established procedures to ensure fairness, accuracy, and impartiality. If at any point we find that policies or laws have been violated, we will take necessary corrective actions without hesitation.

I also want to emphasize that while personnel matters must remain confidential, our approach to this situation, like all others, will be guided by our values of integrity, compliance, and responsibility to the public we serve.

We must work collectively, as Hawkeyes, to ensure that our actions reinforce the trust placed in this university.

Sincerely,

Barbara J. Wilson

President