Iowa State University of Science and Technology

The Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences announced that, “In order to recruit diverse undergraduates, faculty will leverage existing programs that interface with high school students from underrepresented groups on STEM activities and outreach (e.g. Science Bound), or work with teachers or districts to enhance Earth Science curriculum at the secondary level.” The department will engage in efforts for recruitment and retention.

On August 5, 2021, the Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost released a statement regarding the passage into law House File 802 which bans mandatory DEI trainings and Critical Race Theory trainings. The Provost stated that, “Iowa State University will continue its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, including efforts to provide trainings and courses of study that increase understanding of these critical ideas.”

As part of its Bachelor’s degree requirements, the university requires all undergraduate students to complete a course in US Diversity.

The Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences stated, “The standing Curriculum Committees are addressing courses or requirements that act as barriers to achieving a more diverse and inclusive department and providing accessible and equitable alternatives within the GE-AT degree programs.” Furthermore, “The departmental seminar series hosts weekly external speakers that represent a diversity of scientific ideas, as well as the perspectives and contributions of diverse individuals to science.”

The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion facilitates the Martin Luther King Jr. Advancing One Community Awards which awards recipients up to $500 for "efforts to enhance and cultivate an inclusive university community that embraces justice and equity."

The university has an entire academic discipline within graduate course catalog called “Educational Leadership and Policy Studies" which includes courses on “Education for Social Justice,” “Decolonizing Praxis”, “Pedagogies of Dissent”, and “Critical Race Theory in Education”.

The University Library has a number of Anti-Racist Resources including a DEI Book Discussion Series on Ibram X. Kendi’s, “How to Be an Anti-Racist” book with a syllabus to help guide study of the material.

On April 6, 2022, ISU hosted a webinar on Strategies for Anti-Racist Action in STEM.

Iowa State University offers the University Award for Inclusive Excellence for “efforts that have significantly impacted diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at Iowa State University,” among other criteria.

Iowa State University’s ISCORE to Action initiative is “a yearlong promotion of webinars, speakers, educational content, and programming via virtual and in-person platforms” where “action-based outcomes increasing our awareness, knowledge, and skills can be developed and implemented with an antiracism framework related to diversity and inclusion.”

Iowa State University curated a program known as “Tracing Race,” which centers on the values of inclusivity, transparency, and intersectionality.

As Iowa State’s campus is “working together in innovative ways to make our campus a welcoming and inclusive place,” Iowa State has a page dedicated to highlighting “Stories of Inclusion.”

Iowa State hosts the Thomas L. Hill Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity, which is “an annual student-driven conference [which] provides programming that serves as a campuswide forum on issues of race and ethnicity, covering all facets of diversity, equity and inclusion.”

On December 16, 2021, Iowa State University announced the appointment of Sharon Perry Fantini as “the next vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion following a national search.

The Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences stated that the DEI Committee “will establish annual goals for enhancing DEI in the department, informed by issues raised in the listening sessions, and provide an annual outcomes report through the GEAT website.”