University Of Iowa Announces Plan to End ‘Social Justice’ Major, Close Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies Department,

University of Iowa

The University of Iowa has announced a plan to close the Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies department and end the Social Justice major by mid-2025, as DEI initiatives throughout the state are being scaled back.

Before the closure was announced, Iowa’s state board of regents approved recommendations to scale back funding for DEI initiatives in Iowa. The university plans to replace the department with a new major in Social and Cultural Analysis.

“Under the proposed plan, the college would close the departments of American Studies and Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies, as well as the current majors in American Studies and in Social Justice, which have fewer than 60 students combined, and create a new major in Social and Cultural Analysis,” the university in a press release earlier this month.

The school is combining several departments combine several departments, including African American Studies, and Native American and Indigenous studies into the new Cultural Analysis office.

“We are excited to reposition these programs for the future,” said the university’s dean of College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS), Sara Sanders. “The creation of a School of Social and Cultural Analysis would allow us to build on our considerable legacy in areas that are essential to our mission, while creating more sustainable structures and room for innovative new curricula.”

“Right now, these programs are administered by multiple department chairs and multiple directors,” said Roland Racevskis, CLAS associate dean for the arts and humanities. “Under this proposed plan, the school would have a single leadership team dedicated to overseeing the operations of the programs.”

Other higher education facilities are also scaling back DEI departments including The University of Michigan who removed its hiring requirement for DEI statements earlier this month. The University of Austin also has closed DEI initiatives for faculty.