The Board of Regents says eleven of the 26 members on the advisory council for the Center for Intellectual Freedom (CIF) at the University of Iowa have resigned. The eleven members who resigned are out-of-state professors who were invited to join the advisory council by Governor Kim Reynolds. The Cedar Rapids Gazette is reporting that University of Texas professor Richard Lowery called the resignations a no confidence vote in the Board of Regents and its oversight of the Center. Regent Chris Hensley is the advisory council chair and during the Regents meeting last week said she joined the executive director of the Regents to talk with two faculty members about the document making the Center an independent entity.
Hensley says they gave the faculty the opportunity to provide additional comments and suggestions which they did not.
There have been concerns about the hiring of a permanent director for the Center and the classes that will be required for University of Iowa students. Hensley issued a statement with the announcement of the resignations that says the Board of Regents looks forward to working with the remaining 15 members of the CIF Advisory Council to keep the Center moving forward in a positive direction. “The Board and the Advisory Council fully support helping CIF achieve its stated goals of providing scholarship on the intellectual foundation of free societies, the principles, ideals and institutions of the American constitutional order, and the foundations of responsible leadership and informed citizenship.” The Executive Committee of the Advisory Council is scheduled to meet virtually on Friday, September 25 at 2 p-m to continue the search for the permanent CIF director.
