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UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA CEDAR FALLS, IA THURSDAY, APRIL 5 VOLUME 114, ISSUE 42
UNI Proud protests on campus Students object to proposed strategic plan updates CEDAR FALLS, IA
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2025
VOLUME 121, ISSUE 18
MACI SWANSON/Northern Iowan
Students across campus banded together on Wed. Jan. 29 to protest the languages changes in UNIs proposed strategic plan updates.
JO BRAHMS
News Editor
CAMPUS LIFE
Executive Editor Bailey Klinkhammer highlights the new student organization, Radio UNI SEE PAGE 6
SPORTS Sports writer, Michal Spahn, previews Super Bowl 59, taking place this weekend SEE PAGE 11
On Wed. Jan. 29, UNI Proud held a peacful protest in response to the new language in UNI’s proposed strategic plan update. Proud is UNI’s social and political LGBTQ student organization on campus. Allie Clark (they/ them), is a double major in Social Work and Psychology and also serves as the ’24-25 Proud President. Clark says that Proud is a safe place. “We are fighting for principles that push an inclusive campus environment for people who are LGBTQ and their allies. We host safe spaces for both queer students and allies to destress and just have somewhere to exist free of any judgment. We’re also really involved in activism and advocacy efforts, both on campus and in the community. Those efforts include protesting, running awareness campaigns and spreading information. We also like to have panels and seminars for faculty, students, and external organizations like the public library and ThreeHouse.” The changes to UNI’s proposed strategic plan update are due to Iowa Senate File 2435 which, among other things, imposes restrictions
on diversity, equity and inclusion offices at the regent universities. Govenor Kim Reynolds signed the file into law on May 9, ’25. However the law will not go into effect until July 1, ’25. UNI has already restructured several offices in compliance with the impending law. Clark expressed frustration with the university haste to make the changes. “It’s really frustrating knowing that when all the changes were first happening, student life got reorganized so that international engagement and veterans affairs stayed. The university cherry picked which departments offices they felt were worth saving. At the
end of the day, they did not choose to a lot of the offices and resources within the CME and within Gender and Sexuality Services.” While the changes in verbage may seem inconsquential, Penelope Wilmoth (she/they) the social activism and outreach coordinator for Proud this year, is unhappy with the changes that have been made to the proposed strategic plan. “The changes that were made to the proposed strategic plan are based in ideas of ableism, of racism, of homophobia, of transphobia, of classicsm. It was hard to see verbage directly relates to me being crossed out in red ink.” Mara Blevins, (she/they)
director of media relations for Proud said that even finding the proposed changes was a struggle. “The only reason we even found that the proposed plan had been completely redone and was because I had read through a whole email from the university. It was tucked away at the very bottom. Most people I know did not read through that email.” The potential changes are not reflected on the UNI website or on the Board of Regents website. Wilmoth says that while they know the changes are unavoidable, she feels left out of the conver See PROTEST, page 2
Courtesy/Northern Iowa Proud
The Northern Iowa Proud Executive team, pictured above, led protestors through chants and held space for students to express their thoughts on the changes happening across the state.