Lang
10/17/26
A former member of the advisory council for the University of Iowa Center for Intellectual Freedom calls the project a “failed” initiative in a national publication.
Richard Lowery, an associate professor at the University of Texas, has written a piece for the National Review calling the Center a failure that would at best continue in name only. Lowery resigned from the advisory council last month after he and other advisory council members butted heads with the Board of Regents, which took over the search for a permanent director for the conservative-leaving center after it accused the committee tasked with doing so with taking too long.
Lowery says in his article that he hopes future attempts to create similar centers at other universities can learn for the UI center’s failures.
Interim director Luciano de Castro has complained about the lack of university and regent support for the UI Center, weak student interest in the center’s inaugural courses, and the infighting that resulted in the mass resignation of the center’s advisory council last month.
The four finalists for the director position are scheduled to visit the UI campus on Tuesday, but they won’t participate in any public forum. Their names will remain confidential, and only the name of the candidate appointed will be announced after the hire.