Visit Drake University’s website and just two clicks will take you to a page touting the school’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts.
There’s been no hurried scrubbing of the site to keep Republican state lawmakers from losing their minds.
“Drake University values diversity as an institutional strength that encompasses a broad range of human differences. Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion acknowledges the role Drake University can play in redressing historic injustices …,“ the website says. Also, Drake is committed to intentionally recruiting students with “diverse identities.”
Drake President Marty Martin wrote a letter stating the university’s opposition to legislative action removing gender identity from Iowa’s Civil Rights Act.
“This is a moral failure against which we stand in opposition. It is our duty to respect, support, and affirm anyone in our community targeted by these actions,” Martin wrote.
This is blasphemy to Republicans under the Golden Dome of Wisdom, now redder than a Spanish inquisitor’s robes. They see diversity, equity and inclusion as dangerous concepts that must disappear or risk making some white people uncomfortable. New conservative orthodoxy claims it’s liberal indoctrination to suggest racism still is a thing we should do something about.
It’s true, Drake is a private university, unlike state universities ordered to erase all traces of DEI. But the pressure still is on at the Des Moines campus.
A bill backed by Republicans says if Drake persists in its current mission, students who pick Drake will be ineligible for Iowa tuition grants, a state effort to help kids afford a private college.
Yep, punish students. That’ll show them.
About 30% of Drake’s students receive tuition grants. But Drake has, so far, showed no sign of buckling.
“For our private institutions, honestly, this bill should be the least of their worries,” said Rep. Taylor Collins, R-Mediapolis, said of the bill, House File 854, in February. “There's an executive order that President Trump has signed that I think they should be worried about much more.”
If you don’t do what we say, you just wait until dad comes home. A swell country we’ve got nowadays.
So, to review, one kid goes to Dordt College and gets a grant. Another wants to attend Drake and doesn’t get a grant because legislators don’t like the college’s viewpoint. Do you smell legal action cooking?
Martin participated in a Zoom conference call this week with members of the Iowa Writer’s Collaborative and subscribers. He said Drake will deal with whatever action the Legislature takes.
“We've been operating for the last three months in an environment where there's been a lot of language around diversity, equity and inclusion, a lot of vitriol directed at it, just the acronym itself, trying to make it toxic. But it was a lot of language. It was a lot of rhetoric. It wasn't action,” Martin said.
“What the world puts in front of us, we'll deal with it consistent with mission and values,” Martin said.
Drake is in a better position than many schools after a fundraising effort collected $265 million from a donor base that expects the university to stick with its mission.
That includes John Dee Bright College, a two-year program where non-traditional students can earn an associate degree in two years without debt. Johnny Bright was a Black football star at Drake who was assaulted and had his jaw broken by an Oklahoma A & M lineman in 1951. He was the first Black player to compete in the stadium in Stillwater, Okla.
Conservatives might argue the lineman was just expressing his free speech.
“My affiliation and graduation from Bright College and knowing the fact that Bright College is an unfastening of the gate of Drake University. For a lot of people, I wonder, is it being threatened? Is it safe?” said Abena Sankofa Imhotep, who graduated in Bright College’s inaugural class and joined the Zoom call.
Martin said he’s confident if Bright is targeted by lawmakers, Drake donors will step up to support the college.
After the Zoom call, I reached out to ask how Drake would react if the private university extortion act becomes law.
“We do not expect this legislation to substantively impact our pedagogy or programming, and we will do everything we can in service to our students to find a solution that allows us to uphold our values while retaining our students’ access to the Iowa Tuition Grant,” Martin said in an emailed statement.
So, Martin is hardly ready to capitulate.
“My hope is that we travel this road together grounded in a shared commitment to be there for each other every step of the way,” Martin wrote in his letter on transgender legislation. “You have my unwavering commitment to remain steadfast in fostering a welcoming, inclusive, and safe community for all.”
As an alum, all I can add is Go Bulldogs!
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
www.thegazette.com
There’s been no hurried scrubbing of the site to keep Republican state lawmakers from losing their minds.
“Drake University values diversity as an institutional strength that encompasses a broad range of human differences. Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion acknowledges the role Drake University can play in redressing historic injustices …,“ the website says. Also, Drake is committed to intentionally recruiting students with “diverse identities.”
Drake President Marty Martin wrote a letter stating the university’s opposition to legislative action removing gender identity from Iowa’s Civil Rights Act.
“This is a moral failure against which we stand in opposition. It is our duty to respect, support, and affirm anyone in our community targeted by these actions,” Martin wrote.
This is blasphemy to Republicans under the Golden Dome of Wisdom, now redder than a Spanish inquisitor’s robes. They see diversity, equity and inclusion as dangerous concepts that must disappear or risk making some white people uncomfortable. New conservative orthodoxy claims it’s liberal indoctrination to suggest racism still is a thing we should do something about.
It’s true, Drake is a private university, unlike state universities ordered to erase all traces of DEI. But the pressure still is on at the Des Moines campus.
A bill backed by Republicans says if Drake persists in its current mission, students who pick Drake will be ineligible for Iowa tuition grants, a state effort to help kids afford a private college.
Yep, punish students. That’ll show them.
About 30% of Drake’s students receive tuition grants. But Drake has, so far, showed no sign of buckling.
“For our private institutions, honestly, this bill should be the least of their worries,” said Rep. Taylor Collins, R-Mediapolis, said of the bill, House File 854, in February. “There's an executive order that President Trump has signed that I think they should be worried about much more.”
If you don’t do what we say, you just wait until dad comes home. A swell country we’ve got nowadays.
So, to review, one kid goes to Dordt College and gets a grant. Another wants to attend Drake and doesn’t get a grant because legislators don’t like the college’s viewpoint. Do you smell legal action cooking?
Martin participated in a Zoom conference call this week with members of the Iowa Writer’s Collaborative and subscribers. He said Drake will deal with whatever action the Legislature takes.
“We've been operating for the last three months in an environment where there's been a lot of language around diversity, equity and inclusion, a lot of vitriol directed at it, just the acronym itself, trying to make it toxic. But it was a lot of language. It was a lot of rhetoric. It wasn't action,” Martin said.
“What the world puts in front of us, we'll deal with it consistent with mission and values,” Martin said.
Drake is in a better position than many schools after a fundraising effort collected $265 million from a donor base that expects the university to stick with its mission.
That includes John Dee Bright College, a two-year program where non-traditional students can earn an associate degree in two years without debt. Johnny Bright was a Black football star at Drake who was assaulted and had his jaw broken by an Oklahoma A & M lineman in 1951. He was the first Black player to compete in the stadium in Stillwater, Okla.
Conservatives might argue the lineman was just expressing his free speech.
“My affiliation and graduation from Bright College and knowing the fact that Bright College is an unfastening of the gate of Drake University. For a lot of people, I wonder, is it being threatened? Is it safe?” said Abena Sankofa Imhotep, who graduated in Bright College’s inaugural class and joined the Zoom call.
Martin said he’s confident if Bright is targeted by lawmakers, Drake donors will step up to support the college.
After the Zoom call, I reached out to ask how Drake would react if the private university extortion act becomes law.
“We do not expect this legislation to substantively impact our pedagogy or programming, and we will do everything we can in service to our students to find a solution that allows us to uphold our values while retaining our students’ access to the Iowa Tuition Grant,” Martin said in an emailed statement.
So, Martin is hardly ready to capitulate.
“My hope is that we travel this road together grounded in a shared commitment to be there for each other every step of the way,” Martin wrote in his letter on transgender legislation. “You have my unwavering commitment to remain steadfast in fostering a welcoming, inclusive, and safe community for all.”
As an alum, all I can add is Go Bulldogs!
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
Opinion: Drake sticks with diversity as Iowa Republicans attack DEI
Drake University campus in Des Moines. (Photo courtesy Drake University) Visit Drake University’s website and just two clicks will take …
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