Latest news with #IowaTuitionGrant
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Funding flat for state universities, community colleges in proposed appropriation bill
Legislation proposing state appropriations for the Iowa Department of Education, Iowa Board of Regents and more moved out of subcommittee Tuesday. (Photo by) Iowa's public universities and community colleges would see flat funding for the upcoming fiscal year if proposed education appropriation legislation is passed, causing concern for some lawmakers. Senate Study Bill 1231 would set fiscal year 2026 state funding for the Iowa Department of Education, Iowa Board of Regents and the institutions it governs, Department for the Blind and other individual programs. Under the bill, general university funding for the University of Iowa would stay at almost $223.5 million, Iowa State University funding would remain at more than $178.4 million and funding for the University of Northern Iowa would remain at almost $101.9 million. While neither the University of Iowa or Iowa State University requested any general funding increases, the University of Northern Iowa asked for an additional $2.5 million for the upcoming year, which was not reflected in the bill. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Sen. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport, said Tuesday during a subcommittee meeting on the bill that data from the board of regents shows around 66% of the higher education system budget is driven by tuition, with less than 30% made up of state appropriations. 'I'm very concerned about the level funding for both our community colleges and our regent universities,' Winckler said. 'That would mean, as costs are going up for the provision of education, that tuition will go up, and in many cases, that is very difficult for families.' Public education is incredibly important, she said, and when the Legislature keeps funding flat for state universities and community colleges — especially with national challenges all colleges must weather — the students and families paying to attend them feel the hurt of rising costs. Funding for community colleges is listed at close to $235.9 million, the same as last year. Katrina Holck, representing Community Colleges for Iowa, said many community colleges are concerned about the proposed funding as well. Lobbyists expressed general support for the legislation during the meeting, including proposed funding of $10 million for a health care professional incentive program and more than $2.3 million for the therapeutic classroom incentive fund for school districts. Representatives of Des Moines University said in the past, the private college and the UI have been allocated funds for a loan program to either keep alumni practicing in Iowa or bring professionals back to the state to work, and expressed their wish to see it continue. 'The loan program has been really helpful for our alumni to stay here and practice or come back and practice in rural areas,' said Joseph Jones, chief of staff in the president's office at DMU. Other funds left out of the legislation mentioned by commenters included the Iowa Tuition Grant program, $14 million for paraeducators and other civil work personnel and a $335,000 ask for a dyslexia endorsement tuition reimbursement program. Subcommittee chair Sen. Jesse Green, R-Boone, said in total, the bill allocates more than $1 billion from the state general fund for fiscal year 2026, an increase of more than $7 million from last year, as well as about $33.7 million from other funds. Sen. Sandy Salmon, R-Janesville, had no comments but joined Green in signing the legislation forward. It will head to the full Senate Appropriations Committee for further review. Green praised Gov. Kim Reynolds for urging the Legislature to allocate $1 million to the UI for cancer research, as well as the health care professional incentive program. In speaking with his constituents about actions taken last year to increase starting teacher pay, Green said it has really helped rural teachers and schools, and similar efforts should continue. 'This year, when I have gone out and I've talked to the communities, it resonates with a lot of people that we need to maybe expand our rural teacher loan incentives,' Green said. 'That's something that I would like to continue to pursue in the future, for me personally.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iowa Senate subcommittee passes bill to bar DEI offices at state entities, private colleges
A bill that would bar state entities and private universities from having DEI offices or officers passed out of subcommittee Tuesday. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) An Iowa Senate subcommittee advanced legislation Tuesday to ban DEI offices and officers in certain public and private entities while noting there are proposed changes in the bill still to come. House File 856 would bar state entities, including universities and community colleges as well as private universities, from spending any funds, public or private, on diversity, equity and inclusion offices or officers, with some exceptions. If found to be noncompliant with the law, private universities would become ineligible for the Iowa Tuition Grant program until they make changes — meaning students who receive Iowa Tuition Grant dollars would not be able to spend them at the offending universities. The section of the bill pertaining to private universities was the main topic of discussion for members of the public, both in opposition and support. It was also the section that subcommittee chairman Sen. Ken Rozenboom, R-Oskaloosa, told those gathered he would be submitting an amendment to remove. In the Iowa Tuition Grant's more than 50-year history, Rozenboom said the Legislature has never added conditions to the program, and if it starts now, more conditions will added later. 'I'm very uncomfortable, personally … with dipping our toe into conditioning the Iowa Tuition Grant,' Rozenboom said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX He and Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink, R-Fort Dodge, signed off on the legislation, with Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, abstaining. Patty Alexander, who identified herself as a 'concerned mom,' was joined by other parents and lobbyists in support of the legislation. Inspired Life lobbyist Amber Williams said the bill will stop division sowed by DEI policies and activities and protects students from being judged by their demographics rather than their efforts and merit. 'I support this bill because it will hold higher learning institutions accountable and allow them to make corrections, and will ensure that the unhealthy and misguided pursuit of power, which DEI supports, will not be tolerated,' Alexander said. Interfaith Alliance of Iowa lobbyist and Executive Director Connie Ryan opposed the bill and said DEI is about both acknowledging past disparities between different groups and their effects, and also about setting up every Iowan for support and success in the future. The concepts of DEI are key to ensuring members of Iowa's institutions, educational or not, are provided opportunities without erecting barriers, she said. 'That's the goal of diversity, equity and inclusion. It should be the goal of Iowa's elected officials,' Ryan said. 'We are grateful that you took out private institutions. We hope that you would take out the rest of the language as well.' Iowa Board of Regents State Relations Officer Jillian Carlson said the board is registered as 'undecided' on the bill, but it is 'generally supportive' of moving away from DEI, as is happening on the federal level. With other legislation targeting DEI moving through the Statehouse, Carlson said the board would appreciate lawmakers aligning the varying definitions of DEI included in different bills, which Quirmbach and Rozenboom acknowledged. Quirmbach said he was happy to hear of Rozenboom's intentions to remove private universities from the bill, but said he wished community colleges and public universities were also included in the proposed amendment. Echoing comments he made during debate of Senate File 507, which would bar local governments from utilizing DEI practices, Quirmbach said the ideas making up DEI are an asset to organizations wanting to ensure they have the best people and training for the job. 'In general, looking for people of high merit, you want to have the broadest possible pool of candidates,' Quirmbach said. 'The bigger the pool, the more likely you're going to find somebody who is absolutely, spectacularly wonderful. But there are certain groups that aren't typically recruited.' One acronym brought up by supporters of the bill was MEI — or merit, excellence and intelligence. Rozenboom said the tenets of MEI have been replaced over the years with DEI, with negative consequences. Both he and Kraayenbrink said the public signaled its wish to do away with DEI in the last election, and this legislation will help clean up the mess. 'MEI resonates with me a lot more than DEI does, and I hope that's the direction we can head from now on,' Rozenboom said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate Education Committee chair offers no guarantees for House higher ed bills
Sen. Lynn Evans, chair of the Senate Education Committee, said Thursday he makes no promises about which higher education bills will make it through committee.(Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) The chair of the Iowa Senate Education Committee said Thursday he will work to assign the majority of bills coming from the House Higher Education Committee to a subcommittee meeting out of respect for its efforts, but did not make any promises about what could make it to, and through, committee. Sen. Lynn Evans, R-Aurelia, said in an interview he hasn't been 'intimately following' legislation brought forward by the new committee, though they have kept him included in discussions. The House Higher Education Committee is a new group formed before the start of the 2025 legislative session with Rep. Taylor Collins, R-Mediapolis, as chair. It has passed through a number of bills aimed at creating new courses, centers and standards of education at public universities and limiting diversity, equity and inclusion in all facets of higher education in the state. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'They obviously believe it's an important issue, so out of respect, I'm sure that we'll give most of them at least a subcommittee, and a public hearing as a result,' Evans said. 'Whether they make it through committee and onto the floor is yet to be seen. It'll be … based on feedback that we receive during those subcommittees.' Evans said Thursday he was in the process of reviewing bills sent to the Senate after House debate Tuesday afternoon and evening. Private university leaders see negative consequences to Iowa Tuition Grant, DEI actions Democrats and Republicans argued over the content and intent of legislation that would establish a center for intellectual freedom at the University of Iowa in order to increase diversity of thought. The House GOP majority also passed a bill that would bar state entities from maintaining DEI offices and officers, as well as require private colleges to eliminate their DEI offices or risk losing Iowa Tuition Grant dollars. What the public needs to understand, Evans said, is that having two committees in the House for K-12 and higher education means a high number of bills from both groups are going to the Senate Education Committee. While he hasn't done an exact tally, Evans estimated the number of bills the committee will receive from the House at between 80 and 85. Only two weeks remain to move House bills out of the Senate committee before the next legislative deadline. Evans said the likelihood of all of these bills making it through subcommittee and committee to reach the Senate floor 'isn't very good.' 'We're gonna have to do some filtering,' Evans said. 'Sometimes that leaves good ideas on the table, sometimes it eliminates maybe some good ideas, or ideas that people were passionate about. But, you know, that's the process.' Iowa Legislative Black Caucus calls on public to speak up about opposition to anti-DEI bills One topic of interest Evans said he shares with the House committee is a review of public university academic programs to see how they line up with state workforce needs. Legislation requiring universities to conduct a review and submit a report to the General Assembly were introduced in the House and Senate, with House File 420 passing through committee in February. Senate Study Bill 1024 was recommended for passage by a subcommittee in January. As the Iowa Board of Regents has already directed the universities it oversees to begin such a review, Evans said there isn't any need for legislation directing them to do so. Evans said he had no specific priorities addressing higher education coming into this session, but he wasn't surprised to hear about the new committee's formation. When the new higher education committee was announced in November, Collins said a review of Iowa's colleges and universities to ensure they're completing their mission and spending tax dollars responsibly was 'long overdue.' Evans said the Legislature has done a good job of working with community colleges to examine their programming and offer opportunities for students to enter high-demand job fields, and a similar review of state universities would be helpful. 'I'm not opposed to taking up some of those issues and giving a hard look at them,' Evans said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iowa House lawmakers clash over legislation restricting DEI at public, private colleges
Rep. Henry Stone, R-Forest City, spoke on legislation prohibiting funding for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in Iowa, alongside prohibiting DEI efforts at community colleges and private colleges participating in the Iowa Tuition Grant during floor debate in the Iowa House March 18, 2025. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) When debating the first of many pieces of legislation targeting diversity, equity and inclusion Tuesday in the Iowa House, Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell said she's already heard from individuals and groups seeing the negative impacts of stripping away DEI at Iowa colleges and universities. An Iowa State University professor was asked to stop requiring students to watch a video on biochemist Percy Julian, an African American, Wessel-Kroeschell said. The teacher had used the story to get students thinking about how 'societal ideas impact scientific progress,' the Ames Democrat said. 'This bill and others that we will be discussing today take us 100 steps backwards,' Wessel-Kroeschell said. 'The diversity, equity, inclusion ban has already gone too far.' Advocates of the legislation argued DEI programs were divisive. 'A better name for diversity, equity and inclusion programs, in my opinion, would be adversity, inequity and exclusion, because that is what these programs do,' Rep. Steven Holt said. 'Indoctrinating young people to see everything through the prism of race is incredibly destructive — creating adversity between people, inequity for those who do not fit the narrative and exclusion for those who do not agree.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Members of the Iowa House of Representatives passed a number of bills aimed at DEI Tuesday evening, including amended legislation that would create a new center for intellectual freedom at the University of Iowa, as well as bills that would bar state entities, community colleges and private universities from maintaining DEI offices and positions and state university requirements for DEI-related education or participation in programming. House File 269 would prohibit public universities from requiring or incentivizing education in DEI or critical race theory-related content for students as a prerequisite for earning a degree, with exceptions, and also bars employees from being required or incentivized to participate in similar activities or programs. The House passed an amendment offered by Holt, R-Denison, floor manager of the bill, that he said was brought forward by the Iowa Board of Regents. It struck language in the legislation defining DEI and critical race theory-related content as connected to 'critical theory, systemic racism, institutional racism, anti-racism, microaggressions, systemic bias, implicit bias, unconscious bias, intersectionality, social justice, cultural competence, allyship, race-based reparations, race-based privilege, race or gender-based diversity, race or gender-based equity, or race or gender-based inclusion.' Rep. Megan Srinivas, D-Des Moines, introduced an amendment exempting health care students and providers seeking continuing education from the bill. She argued that medical students need to know how a patient's race, sex and other characteristics affect the prevalence of certain diseases. The amendment failed. Calling the legislation 'one of the most misrepresented bills' he's seen in his time as a lawmaker, Holt said DEI and critical race theory topics aren't being banned from instruction, but are rather being stopped from becoming a requirement to graduate. DEI programs seek to divide people, he said, and gave examples of teaching white people they are oppressors because they are white and people of color they are oppressed. The legislation passed 63-34. House Democrats joined Wessel-Kroeschell in opposing House File 269, as well as other DEI-focused legislation that passed out of the chamber. Rep. Mary Madison, D-West Des Moines, said during debate that, if passed, legislation to change academic teaching requirements, general education standards and more would essentially whitewash the lessons taught by Iowa universities. Referencing House File 295, which would prohibit higher education accrediting bodies from taking negative actions against state universities and community colleges for following, or refusing to violate, state law, Madison said the legislation will make Iowa colleges less competitive and 'potentially unaccredited, all while silencing discussion about race, gender and social structures that are fundamental to well rounded education.' 'These bills are not about improving education or governance,' Madison said. 'They are about censorship, exclusion and erasing important conversations that prepare students for the real world, real people.' House File 295 passed out of the House with a 65-32 vote. Rep. Taylor Collins, R-Mediapolis, introduced an amendment to House File 856 adding community and private colleges to the population of state entities and local government bodies that would be prohibited from spending any money, state-allocated or otherwise, on founding or funding diversity, equity and inclusion offices and hiring DEI officers. The amendment passed. The portion of the amendment referencing private universities would put their Iowa Tuition Grant eligibility on the line if they do not shutter their offices, similar to legislation currently on the House debate calendar. Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, said the legislation as amended would punish students for the actions of the institution they chose to attend by stripping away their Iowa Tuition Grant funding, which goes directly to the student, not the college. 'Why are we, the Legislature, punishing children and young people who want to go to college by telling them they can't pick a college that has a position that's different than yours?' Konfrst said. 'That is not fair and it is not right.' Rep. Henry Stone, R-Forest City, was floor manager of the bill and did not yield to questions from House Democrats, who took umbrage with what they described as an overly broad definition of DEI potential impacts on Iowa's students and local departments. His reasoning for this was that he said no one approached him with questions on the bill before it made it to the House floor. Echoing comments made throughout debate about how DEI divides rather than unites, Stone said what is taught through the acronym teaches people to judge based on what is on the surface, like skin color, and interact with them based on those characteristics, rather than getting to know them. 'Getting rid of DEI will help our nation heal and grow together with one another, instead of forcing people to believe that you should be judged by the color of your skin,' Stone said. The bill passed with a vote of 61-37. House File 401 would establish general education requirements for state universities and lays out criteria for subjects students must take to graduate, including English, math and statistics, natural and social sciences and western and American heritage. According to the bill, course content cannot 'distort significant historical events or include any curriculum or other material that teaches identity politics or is based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, or privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States of America or the state of Iowa.' Holt said the bill is 'fundamentally important' for teaching U.S. youth about the country's founding principles and where they came from, as well as helping them to improve in fundamental skills like English. 'If our country is to be fought for, those doing the fighting must know the precious principles that are at stake,' Holt said. The legislation passed 61-36. House File 437 would, as amended, establish a center for intellectual freedom at the University of Iowa and direct it to, in its own work and through collaborations with centers for civic education at Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa, offer a course on American history and civil government and programming on the topics of free speech and civil discourse, Collins said. A previous version of the bill would have the UI establish a school of intellectual freedom within its college of liberal arts and sciences. The legislation passed 60-37. Rep. Aime Wichtendahl, D-Hiawatha, said it's ironic that the chamber discussed intellectual freedom in the wake of trying to ban DEI and amidst the erasure of intellectual freedom across the country as a result of federal government actions. 'This bill is a farce,' Wichtendahl said. 'The center is a farce. This government is a farce.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Private university leaders see negative consequences to Iowa Tuition Grant, DEI actions
Drake University President Marty Martin said Monday his campus community could see negative impacts of signed and potential legislation targeting civil rights protections and the Iowa Tuition Grant program. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch When Drake University President Marty Martin sent an email to students earlier this month emphasizing his and the institution's commitment to diversity and welcoming students to a safe, inclusive environment on campus, he didn't do it as an act of bravery or courage. Martin told an audience tuning in to his discussion with 'Julie Gammack's Iowa Potluck' founder and veteran reporter Julie Gammack over Zoom Monday that he was simply responding to a state action already making an impact on his campus, while reassuring students they all belong at Drake. 'This was, in my role as the president of Drake University, articulating the values of the place against something that had occurred and that was finding its way to our campus,' Martin said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The action he referred to Monday and in his March 3 email was legislation repealing the inclusion of transgender and nonbinary people in protections against discrimination based on gender identity in the Iowa Civil Rights Act, which he called in his message 'one among many current state and federal efforts that seek to turn our differences into division.' Iowa's private colleges and universities are grappling with the consequences, both realized and potential, of state and federal decisions targeting or trickling down to their staff, faculty and students. Higher education leaders are weighing the hurt that could be caused by doing away with diversity, equity and inclusion programs and changing the criteria of Iowa Tuition Grant dollars, both proposed by the Iowa Legislature this session. When previously discussing the potential for lawmakers to change the Iowa Tuition Grant program to promote high-demand career fields, Central College President Mark Putnam said he was unconcerned, as the Legislature cannot 'repeal human development.' Putnam has kept his stance even as bills proposing funneling at least half of Iowa Tuition Grant dollars to students earning degrees relating to high-demand, high-pay job fields and making the lack of a diversity, equity and inclusion office a prerequisite in institutions' eligibility for the grant program have made their way through committee and are waiting for debate on the House floor. 'This is a fluid environment always as legislation is working its way through the system,' Putnam said. 'So if something comes out of committee and it's moving through the process, I think we just maintain our engagement around the same arguments that we've been expressing to legislators all the way through.' Martin said the Iowa Tuition Grant program has been helpful for both students, who have to pay less out-of-pocket for their education, and for the state, since it costs less to provide a student some aid to attend a private college than it would be to educate them at a public university. 'It's really cost effective for the state, it's been highly effective for the individuals, and it continues to work,' Martin said. A driving point Putnam made in the case against these changes — especially the one to ensure that a portion of grant dollars must go to students pursuing a degree related to a crafted list of high-wage, high-need jobs — is the outsized impact they would have on faith-based institutions like Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny. As an institution with a large amount of faith-related academic programs, Putnam said it would be an 'unfortunate reality' that most, if not all, of the students attending Faith Baptist would not make the list of high-demand jobs that would be created for the grant program's reference. Religious discrimination is embedded in the bill, he added. 'Many of our colleges in Iowa are church-affiliated,' Putnam said. 'And so whether they come from a Catholic background or Protestant background or other affiliations, there is an intent there.' Many of Iowa's private universities, whether they are religious or not, are small institutions that serve as a huge economic driver in their communities, Martin said, a large portion of which are in rural areas. If universities are forced to shrink, or potentially close, due to losing revenue students bring in through their grants, he said the towns they're housed in will lose major employers, cultural and athletic hubs. Around 30% of Drake students receive funds through the Iowa Tuition Grant program, Martin said. Higher education is already in a stressful environment with fewer young people choosing to go to college, higher costs, economic uncertainty and more, which Martin said even a well-resourced institution like his is finding challenging to handle. He said he can't imagine how it is for smaller colleges, especially if they were to change Iowa Tuition Grant prerequisites. 'To the extent that the Iowa Tuition Grant is unavailable to any one of us, it's going to have a major economic impact,' Martin said. 'Some of us could weather that storm. Some of us could not.' One important thing to consider with the Iowa Tuition Grant program, Putnam said, is that it goes straight to students, not institutions. If the Legislature does pursue this path, he said the students who receive these grants will feel the most pain. These are students who are Pell-eligible, Martin said. When combining funds from a Pell grant and Iowa Tuition grant, he said students could receive up to around $14,000 in financial aid, which would then be added to scholarships and other aid provided by their institution. 'I don't think we need state government or federal government making a decision about what a student can or can't pursue in his or her own interest, in a state with the motto 'freedom to flourish,'' Putnam said. The idea of 'purse strings' connected to policies is not a new one, Putnam said, but has been utilized for as long as government has existed. It has been a long practice to attach a certain will or interest connected to a policy matter to government funding. However, applying this method to the Iowa Tuition Grant program is 'ill conceived,' he said, as in the end, the proposed changes would hurt Iowa students the most. 'I think our task as independent colleges is is to outline what we think downstream implications are — collateral effects, unintended consequences — because there are (policies) both state and federal government are seeking to pursue, and they are, in one form or another, seeking to attach purse strings to that in order to gain compliance from all of us,' Putnam said. This logic also applies to the operation of diversity, equity and inclusion programs at private universities, Putnam said. Requiring independent colleges to shutter DEI offices in order to participate in the grant program could end up punishing students for the actions or inaction of the institution they chose to attend, possibly leading to them needing to pause or drop out of school. Putnam described it as a potential 'self-inflicted wound' on the part of the state government. Grinnell College provided a statement to the Iowa Capital Dispatch when contacted for this story. According to the statement, the university 'prohibits all unlawful discrimination' and ensures all of its programs are open to everyone, but not required for anyone. 'As required by law, our work is focused on creating opportunity for everyone to see themselves reflected in the institution and (prohibiting) unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, veteran status, or any other protected class,' the statement read. 'The College monitors state and federal law on an ongoing basis and maintains compliance with existing laws.' In the last few months, Martin said he's seen a lot of 'vitriol' directed at the acronym DEI in an attempt to make it 'toxic,' but actions hadn't yet been taken against it — just threatened. When he saw Gov. Reynolds had signed legislation revising Iowa's civil rights code, Martin said he felt he needed to reach out to his community. 'It did seem to me that at that point, it was incumbent upon me as president to reaffirm our values and to assure those who we invited — not just those who found us, but those that we invited to be of the place of Drake University — that they were not just welcomed, but that they belong here,' Martin said. In the letter, Martin said Drake's expanding diversity is one of the institution's biggest strengths, having positive personal and professional impacts on those who populate the campus community. Part of the university's purpose and responsibility is to prepare students to realize their full potential and take on an increasingly connected world, he said. Passing the legislation to strip state civil rights protections from transgender and nonbinary Iowans was another step taken by public officials to divide people rather than bring them together, Martin said, one 'not grounded in respect for the basic human dignity possessed by every person.' 'This is a moral failure against which we stand in opposition,' Martin said in the letter. 'It is our duty to respect, support, and affirm anyone in our community targeted by these actions.' While he hasn't heard of any specific incidents that led him to feel the need to send the email to staff and students, Martin said he has heard concerns from campus community members on how the legislation will impact them and their loved ones. Feedback he's received since he sent it has been mostly positive, he said. Last year Drake University expanded its diversity, equity, inclusion and justice programming through the 'Bulldogs Belong: Resilient and Thriving' initiative. The initiative would create new educational and experiential opportunities, provide expanded mental health services and use partnerships to train university staff in bias incident response. Drake is an institution that works to make itself and the world better, Martin said, and one example he gave of that work during the Monday call was the university's Ron and Jane Olson Center for Public Democracy. The center, which received donations through the university's campus-wide funding campaign, seeks to answer the question of how U.S. politics can get back, or get to, a place of civility and respect, Martin said. He added the center could be part of the solution to grounding politics in empathy, but it will take time. 'If we don't act, nothing's going to change. If we wait to start, the change is going to come later,' Martin said. 'At some point, we can collectively drive change.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
