On December 25th, over the winter break, the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences announced that it is planning to close their departments of Gender Women's and Sexuality Studies and American Studies in addition to dissolving its Social Justice major. These programs, along with African American Studies, Native American and Indigenous Studies, Latina/o/x Studies, and Jewish Studies would all be combined into a new School of Social and Cultural Analysis. Created in 1974, the Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies program was one of the first of its kind. This proposed change would be getting rid of 50 years of progress within the university.

On February 27th, the Iowa Board of Regents will be voting to approve the School of Social and Cultural analysis, allowing for the preservation of classes and creation of future educational tracks for students who desire to utilize the classes and future opportunities housed within this School. Unfortunately, Iowa legislators are advocating for the Board of Regents to vote against the approval of the School of Social and Cultural analysis as they view the programing as “ideologically driven”. This means that if the School of Social and Cultural Analysis does not get approved by the Board of Regents, the programming that would have been housed under this college would cease all together at the University of Iowa. This comes at the same time that state legislators are urging the University of Iowa to implement the School of Intellectual Freedom which would house an American Heritage program that would inevitably replace the former Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion requirement to a  required American Heritage course which will be “annually designated to satisfy the requirements” for students conferring their degrees at state Universities per HSB 63. 

We urge you to sign this petition to stand in solidarity with the students whose academic freedoms and ability to access inclusive and multifaceted higher educational course work are currently being infringed upon. Your signature means standing up to the hypocrisy of our legislators, and stand with the students and faculty on campus who are fighting to keep their academic freedoms protected and secure. Your signature is also a voice that speaks to a larger conversation that legislators and University officials are ignoring, which is that these programs matter and so do we.