Just over a year after starting as Iowa State University’s director of equal opportunity and Title IX coordinator, Carl Wells left Tuesday to return to South Carolina to become associate dean for campus life at Newberry College, a 167-year-old Lutheran college.
The Board of Regents agreed Wednesday to appoint Mary Howell Sirna — who’s been an ISU police administrative adviser for a decade and serves on the Committee for the Advancement of Women and Gender Equity — as his interim replacement while the university intends to launch a national search for a permanent director.
Before the board affirmed Sirna’s appointment, however, regent David Barker asked ISU President Wendy Wintersteen to explain how doing so complies with a new state law enacted earlier this year that bars Iowa’s public universities from spending any more to implement “programming, curricula, training, or related activities in furtherance of the university’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.”
Wintersteen said the appointment doesn’t amount to an increase in DEI-related spending, adding that the Office of Equal Opportunity director acts as ISU’s Title IX and disabilities coordinator — which is “required by federal law.”
“The university would not be able to maintain eligibility for federal funding if it did not have a functioning Office of Equal Opportunity,” she said. “We believe it is required for us to have a director of this office and critically important for the university to be able to function under these requirements by the federal government.”
Before starting at ISU on May 16, 2022, Wells was senior adviser for civil rights and affirmative action for the University of South Carolina — amassing more than two decades on that campus in roles focused on equal opportunity, civil rights, affirmative action, Title IX and diversity and inclusion, according to ISU.
Former Iowa State University Director of Equal Opportunity and Title IX Coordinator Carl Wells. (Iowa State University)
Wells’ salary was $230,280. Sirna will earn $164,554 in the interim role.
Wells’ departure comes just weeks after his second in the ISU office, Associate Director of Equal Opportunity and Senior Deputy Title IX Coordinator Jacob Cummings, left July 14 after just two years to direct equal opportunity and accessibility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, according to his LinkedIn profile.
About Wells’ exit, Wintersteen said Wednesday he left “for a number of reasons,” but didn’t provide specifics.
During the Iowa legislative session that occurred in Wells’ first year on the job, lawmakers — while discussing public university funding — submitted a list of questions to regents, including one asking for the number of DEI or social justice employees on each campus and their annual pay.
In answering that question in February, the campuses reported employing a total 128.5 faculty and staff who work full-time in diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice areas — with ISU tallying the most at nearly 64.
Not among the positions identified in ISU’s list of DEI staff for lawmakers was Wells’ and Cummings’ posts atop the Office of Equal Opportunity — which, on its website at the time, characterized its role as “ensuring equal access to employment and educational opportunities” and advancing “diversity, equity, inclusion, and fairness.”
The office’s vision, according to its website in February, was summarized as ensuring “equal access to employment and educational opportunities in support of the university's commitment to equal opportunity, affirmative action, and diversity.”
During a legislative committee discussion in February on a proposed measure to ban the public universities from funding “diversity, equity, and inclusion offices” or hiring “individuals to serve as diversity, equity, and inclusion officers,” Rep. Taylor Collins, R-Mediapolis, said, “Between your three institutions, all your DEI efforts cost about $9.7 million every single year. Does it require somebody to make $247,000 a year to make a strategic plan for diversity? I don't know anybody in my district who makes north of $250,000 a year.”
The meat of that bill was worked into the eventually-approved education budget bill that deprived the public universities of any new general education support in the 2024 budget year — rejecting the Board of Regents request for a $32 million increase.
“For too long, the DEI bureaucracies at our institutions of higher education have been used to impose ideological conformity and promote far-left political activism … all while spending literally millions in the process,” Collins said in February. “They push this woke agenda on faculty. They push it on staff. But most importantly, they push on the students.”
In response to the legislative criticism, the Board of Regents in March initiated a review of all of its diversity, equity and inclusion programs, anticipating a report and recommendations based on the findings. It also directed the campuses to pause implementation of any new DEI programs for now.
ISU has updated its Office of Equal Opportunity website — removing all language about diversity, equity and inclusion.
www.thegazette.com
The Board of Regents agreed Wednesday to appoint Mary Howell Sirna — who’s been an ISU police administrative adviser for a decade and serves on the Committee for the Advancement of Women and Gender Equity — as his interim replacement while the university intends to launch a national search for a permanent director.
Before the board affirmed Sirna’s appointment, however, regent David Barker asked ISU President Wendy Wintersteen to explain how doing so complies with a new state law enacted earlier this year that bars Iowa’s public universities from spending any more to implement “programming, curricula, training, or related activities in furtherance of the university’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.”
Wintersteen said the appointment doesn’t amount to an increase in DEI-related spending, adding that the Office of Equal Opportunity director acts as ISU’s Title IX and disabilities coordinator — which is “required by federal law.”
“The university would not be able to maintain eligibility for federal funding if it did not have a functioning Office of Equal Opportunity,” she said. “We believe it is required for us to have a director of this office and critically important for the university to be able to function under these requirements by the federal government.”
Before starting at ISU on May 16, 2022, Wells was senior adviser for civil rights and affirmative action for the University of South Carolina — amassing more than two decades on that campus in roles focused on equal opportunity, civil rights, affirmative action, Title IX and diversity and inclusion, according to ISU.
Former Iowa State University Director of Equal Opportunity and Title IX Coordinator Carl Wells. (Iowa State University)
Wells’ salary was $230,280. Sirna will earn $164,554 in the interim role.
Wells’ departure comes just weeks after his second in the ISU office, Associate Director of Equal Opportunity and Senior Deputy Title IX Coordinator Jacob Cummings, left July 14 after just two years to direct equal opportunity and accessibility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, according to his LinkedIn profile.
About Wells’ exit, Wintersteen said Wednesday he left “for a number of reasons,” but didn’t provide specifics.
During the Iowa legislative session that occurred in Wells’ first year on the job, lawmakers — while discussing public university funding — submitted a list of questions to regents, including one asking for the number of DEI or social justice employees on each campus and their annual pay.
In answering that question in February, the campuses reported employing a total 128.5 faculty and staff who work full-time in diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice areas — with ISU tallying the most at nearly 64.
Not among the positions identified in ISU’s list of DEI staff for lawmakers was Wells’ and Cummings’ posts atop the Office of Equal Opportunity — which, on its website at the time, characterized its role as “ensuring equal access to employment and educational opportunities” and advancing “diversity, equity, inclusion, and fairness.”
The office’s vision, according to its website in February, was summarized as ensuring “equal access to employment and educational opportunities in support of the university's commitment to equal opportunity, affirmative action, and diversity.”
During a legislative committee discussion in February on a proposed measure to ban the public universities from funding “diversity, equity, and inclusion offices” or hiring “individuals to serve as diversity, equity, and inclusion officers,” Rep. Taylor Collins, R-Mediapolis, said, “Between your three institutions, all your DEI efforts cost about $9.7 million every single year. Does it require somebody to make $247,000 a year to make a strategic plan for diversity? I don't know anybody in my district who makes north of $250,000 a year.”
The meat of that bill was worked into the eventually-approved education budget bill that deprived the public universities of any new general education support in the 2024 budget year — rejecting the Board of Regents request for a $32 million increase.
“For too long, the DEI bureaucracies at our institutions of higher education have been used to impose ideological conformity and promote far-left political activism … all while spending literally millions in the process,” Collins said in February. “They push this woke agenda on faculty. They push it on staff. But most importantly, they push on the students.”
In response to the legislative criticism, the Board of Regents in March initiated a review of all of its diversity, equity and inclusion programs, anticipating a report and recommendations based on the findings. It also directed the campuses to pause implementation of any new DEI programs for now.
ISU has updated its Office of Equal Opportunity website — removing all language about diversity, equity and inclusion.
Equal opportunity directors leave Iowa State; regent questions interim appointment
Just over a year after starting as Iowa State University’s director of equal opportunity and Title IX coordinator, Carl Wells on Tuesday left for a job back in South Carolina as associate dean for campus life at Newberry College — a 167-year-old private Lutheran college.
www.thegazette.com
