University of Northern Iowa

One of the goals of UNI's 2023-2028 Strategic Plan is to "[i]ncrease the percentage of students of color...in the first-time in college entering class to 20% during the next 5 years."

On March 24, 2022, the university held a workshop on the Decolonization of Learning in an effort to challenge faculty to decolonize their current teachings and examine white privilege and anti-racism.

The Center for Multicultural Education at UNI "provide[s] diversity education for all its community members..." and "[facilitates] opportunities through programming for students to explore social justice to work towards advocacy and activism."

The Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice at UNI "advance[s] inclusion and social justice through advocacy and support of underrepresented and marginalized students [and] provide[s] diversity education for all its community members...."

The Common Read for the 2021-2022 academic year is Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isable Wilkerson. It is hosted by the Cedar Valley Anti-Racism Coalition.

As part of the Liberal Arts Core requirements for the Bachelor’s degree, all undergraduate students are required to complete 3 credit hours of classes in Non-Western Cultures and 3 credit hours of classes in Diversity and Global Issues.

As part of its "Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racist Practices," the Department of Theatre at UNI has "begun to identify and implement changes within individual course structures to ensure that classroom content is diverse and inclusive" and will "continue to expand our curriculum and programming to include voices of artists of color."

The Legacy Scholars two-year program at UNI "targets historically underrepresented students who demonstrate a strong commitment to their education and are interested in pursuing post-baccalaureate opportunities within one year of graduating from UNI."

"For 6-weeks, participants on the Quest will receive weekly newsletters that will guide them as they cultivate habits of consciously and consistently practicing anti-racism. Each week’s newsletter includes a welcome video from a community leader, a quotation to contemplate, a community assignment to complete, and questions for reflection and discussion."

The university has created a six-week virtual program based in Critical Race Theory titled “Cultivating Justice: A Quest Toward Racial Equity,” which endorses the works of Ibram X. Kendi. As part of week 5, the program solicits donations to several anti-racism projects.

The university presents a warning on “Diversity Exit Ramps,” which are “ways that people pretend to be talking about diversity but are actually skirting the issue.” They list numerous examples and advise on how to respond.

UNI Professor of History Wallace Hettle published an article titled "Who's Afraid of Critical Race Theory?"

UNI offers (as of fall 2023) a diversity, equity, and inclusion certificate as part of its general education program. Undergraduates will "develop a deeper understanding of a variety of perspectives related to DEI, including critically analyzing social justice issues; debating and understanding the values and ethics related to diverse groups...."

UNI's Student Government links to the Black Lives Matter website as part of its anti-racism resources.

The Office of Community Engagement at UNI "stand[s] in solidarity with people of color and the Black Lives Matter Movement and support[s] the dismantling of systematic racism that has impacted our nation and world."

The Office of Community Engagement at UNI issued a statement in support of Black Lives Matter that reads in part as follows: "We stand in solidarity with people of color and the Black Lives Matter Movement and support the dismantling of systematic racism that has impacted our nation and world...We have always and will continue to support all students, faculty and staff who align themselves in any way with the Black Lives Matter movement."