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The Daily Iowan

UI wants YOU for the Center for Intellectual Freedom

A CIVIC ISSUE

The Daily Iowan

The polarizing Center for Intellectual Freedom lacks clear vision as course mandate looms.

n the barren walls of his alvin all o ce, where the enter for Intellectual reedom resides, interim director and University of Iowa economics professor uciano de astro shu es a stack of papers around his desk as he fervently attempts to explain his approach to captaining one of the most polari ing initiatives on campus. It s been months since Iowa Gov. im eynolds signed ouse ile to establish the center on the UI campus. hampioned by Iowa epublican lawmakers as a means to improve civics education and foster freedom of thought, the center circumvents traditional educational standards and is operated by the Iowa oard of egents not the university. pponents of the directive argue placing the center under the authority of the governor-appointed regents rather than the traditional university administration was a political move to push a conservative ideological agenda. ince the center s inception, the regents, Iowa epublican lawmakers, and de astro himself have bristled at the claim the center is a political institution. ut now, with the center s operations on hold, dismal attendance in its inaugural semester, and a search for permanent leadership underway, de astro sits in his o ce suggesting the opposite. e flashes a stack of papers, revealing each individually, in an attempt to explain what he means. Depicted in a scramble of blue and red dots, de astro explains how the university promotes more liberal perspectives than conservative ones, and that it was the central motivation behind the legislature s push to create the center. “ hat the General Assembly understood was there was an imbalance in the university that they wanted to do something about, de astro says. “ o they created the enter of Intellectual reedom to go against this problem. ith less than months until the course mandate kicks into eﬀect, uestions surround the center, its leadership, and its curriculum. ince its inception, the UI enter for Intellectual reedom has sparked controversy over the government s role in higher education and even the desire for the initiative itself especially after only total students registered for the center s two spring course oﬀerings. de astro has faced opposition for concerns of legislative overreach and political partisanship, which he dissents. The way in which Des oines has “circumvented traditional college leadership to mandate the courses, UI media law

in voting tendencies bleeds into the approach to teaching or curriculum. The selected strategy is one of three the ra ilian-born de astro suggests as he lays out his vision for the center in pursuit of the director role. The regents appointed de astro to the interim position in uly , but he now guns for the permanent ob, citing the role as his “duty. “In my heart, I see very clearly that it s something good for you, for the students of Iowa, de astro said. “I want to create a program that s valuable for the students.

In an th-hour legislative push, eynolds signed ouse ile into law une a mandate re uiring students from the UI, University of orthern Iowa, and Iowa tate University to take a three-credit American history and three-credit American government course beginning all through their respective civics centers. ut, ohnson said the first principle of intellectual freedom is simple it can t be forced. “If the outcome you want is to balance this perceived imbalance or rectify this perceived imbalance in ideology, that s the wrong reason to have to re uire certain types of civic education, ohnson said. ictor ay, UI associate professor of sociology and criminology, said Des oines has overstepped in mandating the coursework, which should be instead dictated by the university. “The legislature is stepping on the university s prerogative, he said. “ ots of people with no background in education are actually harming students by interfering with the academic freedom of faculty at the university. ow three months after the mandate passed, de astro sits in his chair full of eal, seeking to make sense of the scramble of dots he lays across the table. The dots, more blue than red, are a diagram intended to depict the liberal skew of the university. ut the illustration is simply that an illustration. e emphasi es a note on the graphics, which says the displayed imbalance of left- and right-leaning perspectives on campus was not pulled from any speciﬁc data. As a result of the perceived bias, de astro says he has no choice but to employ his second proposed method. hown in the umble of dots, he says it makes sense for him to solely provide right-leaning perspectives from the center to counterbalance the overwise leftist tilt of the university as a whole. “I think this approach to solve this problem, de astro says. “This approach is better. The claim is sandwiched, though, between contradictions in which he says the center is a non-ideological, unbiased, purely academic initiative. It s all part of the ongoing confusion over what the center is, why it was created, and what it will mean for students when mandatory classes begin in . tudies show university faculty is more likely to lean left in their political perspectives, and while there is no speciﬁc data to prove this is present at the UI, it is not proven the skew

professor rett ohnson said, proves the motivation behind the center is inherently political. “That s not so much academic freedom as it is putting your thumb on the scale, ohnson said.

n this day, de astro shifts to his latter proposal, which he insists is his preferred. The paper looks similar to the first one from afar, but upon closer look shows an even distribution of perspectives provided by the university, and the same coming from the center. ut, he stresses that since he believes the university is politically imbalanced, the prior plan is a more optimal solution. “Don t you think that it s a more sensible approach de astro asks. “If there are so many other units offering talks that go ust one side, I offer the other side to make the pool more balanced and have opportunities for other views. de astro weighs the option of providing both left- and right-leaning perspectives, but proceeds to say it s unrealistic as it would maintain the liberal tilt of the university as a whole. To him, rectifying the imbalance is essential in ensuring students are exposed to all viewpoints. If the rest of the university were balanced, de astro says he would be happy to do the same. “ ut don t critici e only me and leave the rest of the university uncontrolled, he says. egent hristine ensley said the goal of the center is to “provide scholarship on the intellectual foundation of free societies, while de astro said its intentions are to help students in achieving academic excellence. ut defectors of the cause argue the motivation of the center is more ideological than academic. ay, who taught in the African American tudies Department prior to its closure approved by the regents on April , said the department s low enrollment should be reason enough for its elimination. “ enter for Intellectual reedom is a really rwellian name because they re forcing mandatory classes on students who don t want it, ay said. “ ust as a matter of pure consistency, if closing African American tudies was ust a financial decision, the center should be closed. ay said universities do a better ob fostering free thought than any other institution including churches, workplaces, and the military. “ ou can say and do things at universities that you cannot do anywhere else, he said. “ o the notion that universities are a problem when it comes to free speech is ust a lie.

After disappointing enrollment numbers in pring , the regents halted all center operations uly , attributing the decision to the need to focus on the search for a permanent director and to reevaluate the center s curriculum before courses begin, adding to the uncertainty of the initiative and its current state. de astro was one of applicants for the permanent director role, and was included in

the pool of advanced applicants announced by the regents ept. . The director search is headed by the center s Advisory ouncil, a group consisting of epublicans, Independents, and three Democrats. The council will recommend finalists to the regents who will make the final hire, according to a statement to the DI by ensley, who also sits on the center s council. The center was appropriated million by the state for the school year and million for the school year for all course operations and programming. hile the center held two pass fail, one semester hour courses in pring , courses have been suspended until all . f the taxpayer dollars, de astro is earning a , salary in his role as interim director. This is in addition to the , salary he earns in his capacity as a university professor, according to UI public records. After detailing a laundry list of obstacles the regents and UI put in the way of his efforts to head the center, de astro said the vote to halt operations is another roadblock. In limbo, de astro emphasi ed he is only permitted to plan speaking events though the center, and cannot spend money planning curriculum to teach the student body in less than two years time. This semester, de astro has hosted two speakers through the center, both a part of his “America peaker eries, Todd . ywicki, professor of law at George ason University, and ilfred c lay, historian and author of conservative U. . history textbook “ and of ope An Invitation to the Great American tory. In the email statement, ensley said coursework for future semesters will be developed under the leadership of the permanent director. The ob posting for the center s director position has a salary range of , , annually. According to the regent s budget, , of the year s appropriations is allotted for salaries and benefits of the director and additional faculty, , for supplies and services, and , for rentals. ith one semester of courses completed and the future of the curriculum undetermined, it s uncertain what role the center will play on the UI campus. The inaugural courses, olitical and Economic Institutions in the United tates and American ulture and alues, were taught through a series of guest lecturers. UI political science professors Alex mith and Tim agle each lectured separately for the courses, with mith teaching three sessions total and agle teaching two. oth professors said they approached the lessons non-ideologically and were not given instruction on how to teach by de astro. mith said his lectures streamlined content that is already taught within his other classes, which includes Introduction to American olitics and The residency. e said courses taught through the center may have a different emphasis than those in traditional departments, but said it would be untrue to say the content is not being taught elsewhere on campus. “ e re covering a lot of these things in the political science department , and it seems to be that students think we re covering them fairly well, mith said. agle focused his lectures on free speech and the udiciary, and said it was within the scope of a traditional course, but provided him the opportunity to dive deeper into topics of his choice in this case, social media and free speech rights. e said he sees the center s creation by the legislature as a desire to provide students with an education on the basic structure of government.

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With classes set to begin in less than 24 months, the center is already behind. Johnson stressed that for most professors, syllabi for 2028 courses are already being planned. Professor Ray said the lack of a plan reflects the “general incompetence and lack of seriousness” in which the center has gone about the process. He said mandating courses without proven demand for them, while doing so outside the normal process for developing curriculum, is insulting to students. “It’s disrespectful to students to do this in this sort of haphazard way,” Ray said. The state-level directive raises a slew of questions for the political science and history departments, Smith said, because the center is required to teach courses already oﬀered in those departments. Whether the center will attempt to cross-list faculty with the departments or hire externally, how enrollment, funding, and sta ng will be impacted, and how the traditional curriculum through the departments will change as a result of the directive were among his queries. “There s all sorts of downstream eﬀects that I’m not sure were really taken into consideration in the bill that was written and passed last year,” Smith said. “I have lots of questions about that. It seems to not be based on policy grounds.” The decree to teach two courses through the center that are already being taught at the university gives away that the intention is underpinned in ideological motivation, and not purely the desire to provide a civics education, professor Johnson said. “If you are saying you are just going to get that by taking two courses, American history and American government, that’s a drop in the bucket,” he said. Though, Johnson said it may only be the start of what the center intends to provide, but it’s unclear what the long-term vision is. In terms of vision, Smith said the political science department has not h eard anything from the center regarding curriculum overlap — now less than 24 months out from the start of mandated classes — deepening his logistical concerns. He is unsure to what extent the department would want to collaborate with the center, and stressed the administrative difficulty of requiring university-wide

courses with such a limited window to prepare. Smith has done the math. According to his calculations, to offer the two required courses at the current enrollment size of approximately 140-200 students, with each instructor teaching four courses a semester, the center would need to hire around seven full-time faculty per course — 14 total — not including teaching assistants. Despite teaching an introductory American government course, Smith hasn’t been asked by the center to teach when classes resume in 2028. He said he would not go back if approached. “I don’t anticipate having further involvement at this point,” Smith said. “I approached it as, I’m doing these guest lectures for the spring semester because I

had the availability. If they were oﬀering the courses this fall, I just wouldn’t have the time to do it.” On the other hand, Hagle said he would consider returning for additional lectures on the judiciary and free speech, though he also hasn’t heard from the center. Johnson, who teaches a class on free expression in the UI School of Journalism and Mass Communication, would decline an oﬀer to teach at the center, but again, has not been approached. “If I were invited, I’d probably decline because I believe more in the mission of the university as a whole than in this endeavor,” he said. de Castro knows it will be a challenge to plan and develop the curriculum for courses set to begin in less than two years time, but stressed his inability to do so at this time fol-

lowing the halt of operations by the regents. ack in his o ce, de astro provides a reading list as one ﬁnal visual aid. The sheet is a representation of the “balanced readings” he intends to provide if selected for the permanent director role. The list is based on coursework from the civics center at University of Austin, a private liberal arts school in Texas that is not yet accredited. It includes readings from a range of scholars: Thomas Sowell, Plato, Thomas Robert Malthus, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, Freidrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, and Ludwig von Mises. “You have two perspectives,” he says. “And then the students have to reason what makes sense, what doesn’t make sense, and we don’t need to tell you what’s the good thing. But you’re going to be exposed to both sides of the argument.”

The past, present, and future of state-established civics centers The rise of civics centers at public universities has drawn national controversy.

The conversations fall to whispers in the Boyd Law Building on Sept. 3, Luciano de Castro, interim director for the Center for Intellectual Freedom, steps up to the platform, the light from the pro ector reflecting off his forehead. “But I can see it clearly, like someone looking at the horizon before the sunrise,” de Castro said. “The birth of a new discipline. ou don t know this yet, but you will find out soon.” The topic slowly shifts, but the sentence echoes throughout the room. A state-mandated unit designed with right-leaning courses and speakers may be new at the University of Iowa, but not nationally. The upward trend of civics centers focused on American ideologies has been undeniable in recent years. Arizona, Florida, Ohio, Tennessee, North Carolina, and more have initiated state-funded civics centers, and the trend only seems to continue. As centers at other universities continue to grow, one common question keeps coming up: Is this what students want and what schools need? Paul Carrese, the director of the Center for American Civics at Arizona State University, emphasized the importance of civic education within universities. With a background in political science, he says civics centers are a positive change across the country. “They want to restore some space for the original mission of state governments chartering and establishing public universities, which is to educate citizens and, implicitly, future civic leaders,” Carrese said. He says he’s seen a shift away from classes surrounding political theory and more into political practice. But Carrese stressed that they both matter and should be taught. The Center for American Civics is housed under the School of Civic and Economic Thought and eadership. The school offers two undergraduate degrees and one minor. A U was one of the first schools to establish a civics-focused program in 2017. According to its website, seven other state governments directly copied its model. Carrese said the problem with this lack of patriotism is a lack of understanding about the civic institutions of the U.S. With a lack of understanding, he said, comes a lack of involved and educated voters. “We need to teach America about America, our form of government, and politics. Being a self-governing citizen is not obvious,” Carrese said. Other civics centers have received pushback from students and faculty. “They’re trying to push their political agenda, and we are seeing that more students are learning about this and are not okay with that,” Hannah Hayes, a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and member of Sunrise UNC, said. The School of Civic Life and Leadership at UNC is a civics-center established by the College of Arts and Sciences in 2023. The school, which became independent of the College of Arts and Sciences last summer,

does not have to abide by the college’s hiring practices. This independence comes after a monthslong internal review was withheld from public viewing, citing conﬁdential information. The review, which was performed by K&L Gates LLP and cost the university $1.2 million, was initiated after the program was accused of tampering in the hiring process. “Without having some of the information from the investigation public, there’s no way for faculty or students to know what accountability looks like,” Hayes said. UNC cites the school’s increasing enrollment and student interest for its independence from the College of Arts and Science. According to UNC’s historical course records, the mean growth in student enrollment for classes taught over 2 semesters is +1.4 students per class. The school has been met with controversy, much like the UI’s Center for Intellectual Freedom. For example, UNC Board of Trustees member David Boliek said in an interview with Fox News that the school was created to help the “lack of right-of-center views” on campus. The school claims it was designed to address the decline in civic knowledge and discourse.

or University of lorida staff, the amilton School for Classical and Civic Education came as a surprise. A $3 million fund for the program appeared in the legislature in June 2022. The University says it did not request the funds or the establishment of the school; the Council on Public University Reform requested them. The request was headed by John Holdenried, a prominent figure in the eritage Foundation and Napa Legal, both conservative and faith-based organizations. The Council on Public University Reform was not in contact with the University of Florida at all. The Hamilton School, named after the first secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, began very similarly to the UI’s center: small. The Hamilton School began in 2023 and only listed four courses, all centered around literature. Now, it is a sprawling institution offering multiple ma ors, minors, and certificates alongside its classes. The Hamilton school is often cited, including by de Castro, as one of the most aspirational state-funded civics centers. Ben Wise is a professor teaching American history at the University of Florida. In his article, “How to Fire a Professor at The University of Florida,” he studies how the government has historically interacted with higher education, specifically the humanities. “How do you explain these moments where [humanities] becomes politically controversial?” Wise said in an interview with The Daily Iowan. He said he hasn’t seen an issue of “indoctrination,” Democrat or Republican, in classes throughout his department. “I think it relies on a bad-faith argument that professors are uniformly liberal and indoctrinating kids to overthrow America,”

Wise said. “That’s just not happening.” The indoctrination argument has been echoed by prominent politicians like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis says in his memoir, “The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival,” that educators are hurting more than helping. “They teach our kids to hate our country or to hate each other based on false narratives about American history,” DeSantis said in his book. The amilton chool offers classes to combat these “false narratives” lawmakers claim are a problem. The classes are on a range of subjects, from history, economics, literature, and more. Wise sees no problem with this, as long as it is more course offerings for students. Looking through the most optimistic lens of the school, ise said more class offerings are in disciplines not offered through traditional programs. The school teaches specific history classes like war studies, which he said are not offered in the history department. Wise said the worst case is replacement and erasure of academic units throughout the university. With Hamilton’s yearly $10 million budget, they have the ability to hire a lot of faculty in a short amount of time. Wise worries that the school could hire so many professors for Hamilton that the university’s original departments, including the history department, could face funding cuts. As more schools continue to open across the country, Wise stresses collaboration between civics centers and universities. “Collaborate as much as you can in the interest of serving students, serving the larger intellectual project of understanding the human condition, because there’s no one right way to do that,” Wise said. “Be aware in every department, whether it is a civics institute or a history department, that political bias on either side is not helpful to the core mission of the humanities.”

Back in Iowa City, de Castro said he is pulling from multiple diﬀerent programs for curriculum inspiration in preparation for the Fall 2028 mandate requiring students to take two classes through the center. Traveling around the country to various schools, he noted what worked well and what fell short for similar civics-based programs. de Castro admits the Center for Intellectual Freedom does not have the capacity to imitate schools like the Hamilton School due to stark budget diﬀerences. amilton gets $10 million a year in recurring funds, while the UI got $1 million for the 2026-27 school year. “So you cannot imitate what they do, but we can see what they are trying to do, and then try to adapt to our situations,” de Castro said. One of these adaptations was trying to increase student participation within the center. On the center’s informational poster, they cite supporting student organizations. The two organizations listed are Turning Point USA and Young Americans for Freedom. While knowledge about the program remains minimal among students, according to interviews by the DI de Castro is optimistic that with more marketing, students will want to enroll in classes and attend speaker events. The future of the new state-funded civics centers remains unknown. Iowa has pushed through a rocky start, including the pausing of classes until 2028 following a directive by the Iowa Board of Regents, the governing body of the center. There is hope from center leadership that one day a program as prominent as North Carolina or Florida could take shape in Iowa City. “This is an intellectual enterprise that is useful and important, and this is why I think it’s a very important thing to bring here,” de Castro said.

OPINIONS

UI leaders, it’s time to face the facts.

The newly mandated University of Iowa Center for Intellectual Freedom courses beginning Fall 2028 are a partisan farce disguised as education.

Despite Iowa lawmakers passing legislation establishing the University of Iowa Center for Intellectual Freedom and discussing the topic ad nauseam, hardly any UI students even know what the center is. For those who are familiar with the center, it is widely unpopular, as any student can recognize the overt conservative stance the center is taking, aligned with conservative on-campus organizations such as Turning Point USA and Young Americans for Freedom. Of 191 students surveyed by The Daily Iowan across campus, only about 20 percent said they had heard of the center. While the center’s interim director Luciano de Castro claims this is because of poor advertising, the more likely reason is that the center’s entire creation and roll out is nothing more than a desperate attempt for conservative ideas to remain relevant in a town and university that has progressed past them. Following a state mandate signed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds in June, the center will soon require six additional hours of general education coursework for students beginning Fall 2028. The two three-credit classes will teach American history and American government — undeniably important topics. However, these topics are covered in classes that already exist in myriad departments and colleges across campus. While UI professors — and college professors in general — have been deemed liberal or far-left, many political science and history classes at the UI already teach foundational concepts of civics and U.S. history. The UI stepping out of the way as the Iowa Board of Regents hastily ushers in these unnecessary classes

is insulting to the existing faculty who have dedicated their lives and careers to teaching these subjects because epublicans in Des oines decided it doesn t ﬁt their conservative agenda. Not to mention, there is a shocking lack of information regarding the future of the overlapping history and civics classes. Pigeonholing topics as important as U.S. government and history into a single overseeing body limits choice and perspective within those respective areas. The center is essentially telling its captive audience what to think about the topics, rather than letting students explore them in a way that interests them or connects to their majors. Forcing a single form of thought is not freedom. It’s indoctrination. For an institution that promotes itself as nonpartisan and unbiased, its creators and supporters all hail from the right, demonstrating the one sided need and desperate enforcement required to even get the center off the ground. If these lawmakers and regents really believed in free expression and intellectual freedom, they would give students the freedom to choose whether or not to take the classes. Despite the regents’ Center for Intellectual Freedom Committee’s overt disapproval of the UI’s current course oﬀerings, they have yet to release a single piece of information about the content of these new classes and their curriculum.

Furthermore, they’ve even halted the development of the center’s curriculum as the search for a permanent director is underway. Classes begin in less than two years, but there is yet to be any tangible information on the class itself. Or the curriculum. Or who will teach them. or the two courses originally oﬀered in the spring, only 19 total students enrolled, leading the center to dismiss enrollment altogether. These numbers, again, are aligned with the common sentiment among students — no one cares about the center or even knows what it is. Having no actual plans in place hasn’t stopped the center from pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars in de astro s pockets as he shakes his ﬁst at the university and regents for being a bureaucratic burden and preventing him from best advertising the center. de Castro could spend billions of dollars on advertising material to get the word out about the center, and nothing would change. UI students simply don’t want to pay expensive tuition money for classes they know are a trivial appeasement to the Iowa right. It’s clear the board behind the center still has no idea what they’re doing as de Castro is making roughly $140,000 on top of his roughly $300,000 economics professor position to sit on his hands and wait for instructions. They are virtually throwing away millions of taxpayer dollars because they are too stubborn to admit the center failed before it even began. The regents had to have known it was going to fail at the UI, though, or they wouldn’t have mandated classes. Legally forcing people to fall into your school of thought is about as far from intellectual freedom as one can get. It’s been long-known though that the center’s name is a farce since almost all of the advisory board is made up of right-wing, non-academic members — four of which aren’t even from the state of Iowa. There’s little diversity of opinion on this board, and that’s the point.

de Castro admitted it himself in an exclusive interview with The Daily Iowan, explaining that to counteract alleged wide-spread liberalism on campus, he’d have to only teach conservative ideas and values in the center. It is a blatantly partisan project, and the people behind it aren’t even bothering to hide it anymore. Partisan organizations, events, and conservative voices, do and should continue to be a part of the UI’s campus and culture. Every student has a right to speak their mind, organize, and vote however they choose. But that freedom of expression is not present in a school intentionally representing and mandating a single side — and an extreme one at that. If the point of the center is to balance democratic or so-called “woke” perspectives, it should be opening a dialogue, not dictating the conversation. The idea that conservative students are oppressed on campus is foolish. There are a handful of prominent conservative student organizations on campus such as Turning Point USA, Young Americans for Freedom, and College Republicans at Iowa — all of which are options for any UI student. These groups attract prominent guest speakers to campus, like Ben Shapiro, and host other events that align with their goals and values, something all student organizations are free to do on campus. The cry from conservatives on their alleged silencing comes from more of a lack of understanding of the First Amendment rather than their rights actually being violated. Any U.S. citizen has the right to share any thought or opinion they want, but that right doesn’t protect them from the consequences of that expression. If the goal of the center is to sway Iowa City’s liberal culture and introduce alternative ideologies, Republican leaders and students need to understand that those ideas will be met with resistance in a city that primarily votes blue. But that pushback is what creates the dialogue the center claims it wants, but is instead just forcing onto students. In a Spring 2026 exclusive Daily Iowan interview with UI President Barbara Wilson, she clearly resisted criticizing or even questioning the center’s goals. “I don’t think it’s a wild proclamation to observe that we are pretty polarized as a society these days,” Wilson said. “I think our job as an educational organization is to help you all, as emerging leaders, figure out how to talk to people, and how to listen to people who have different viewpoints, and how to learn from them instead of going in with the goal of trying to change their minds. e want to try to find common ground and ways to work through your differences to get to where you want to accomplish goals. That’s our goal here on campus.” The state government and center leadership have such a stronghold on the university that Wilson doesn’t even have the intellectual freedom to stand up for her student body. The fact that our university leadership is so quick to admit they’re sitting idly by as Reynolds and the legislature punish their own constituents for arbitrary non-issues is wildly concerning. The time to speak up is long gone. The law was signed. The regents established their list of director finalists today. The Center for Intellectual Freedom is happening. What students need now is educators who support them and who don’t bend a knee for politicians. Students, especially those coming in from blue states, aren’t going to want to pay out-of-state tuition for these classes. The university is desecrating its entire reputation and validity as a leading institution in this country. University leaders must speak up on behalf of their student body, which is being subjected to this retaliation from Des Moines. It truly can’t be more obvious what the center is trying to accomplish at the UI, and if our higher education representatives don’t stand up to this attack, the university is going to pay the price.

UI students largely unaware of CIF Students react to the center’s programming and legislation mandating its courses as a graduation requirement once classes resume in 2028.

After the state-mandated requirement that all University of Iowa students take two general education classes within the Center for Intellectual Freedom was postponed until Fall 2028, some students are concerned, while many remain unaware of the center. The Daily Iowan conducted a campuswide poll, interviewing 191 students about their awareness of the center and their thoughts on the subject matter. In the poll, 20.13 percent of UI students were aware of the center. Over half of the students interviewed had not heard about the center or the required classes. House File 2800, which was signed on June 2, will require all UI students to take an introductory American history and American government class through the Center for Intellectual Freedom. Students will be expected to take these classes starting Fall 2028. Many students, like first-year preengineering student Henry Van Scoyk, are generally unaware of what the Center for Intellectual Freedom is or what the required classes are. “I’ve seen booths about it at the activity fair, but I don’t really know what it does,” Van Scoyk said. Some students do know about the center and the future required classes. Graduate student Anna Blobaum said she does not support the state mandating partisan general education requirements. “From my impression, it was sort of established out of a more conservative political background and interest,”

Blobaum said. The requirement would have students complete an additional six semester hours on top of their existing degree requirements. However, the Iowa Board of Regents said they are exploring the possibility of cutting existing general education requirements to account for the added requirements from the Iowa state legislature. Blobaum said the extra course load is unnecessary and the courses classiﬁcation as general education requirements is burdensome. “I could see an argument for requiring civic classes or certain things like that,” Blobaum said. “I don’t think an additional prerequisite should be added or a gen-ed requirement should be added for it.” Some students are concerned the addition of two more classes would cost them more money and would take funding away from other areas of study at the university. Third-year pre-law student Branden Bunce said the required classes are unnecessary and expensive. “I don’t think we need the center,” Bunce said. “More money is going to things that we don’t need, and it’s impacting students in other areas.” Adding to the concerns about extra course load and cost, some students who are aware of the center worry the material taught at the center has a political leaning. Fourth-year creative writing student Andres Castillo, who transferred from the University of Florida because of related concerns, said the center leans conservative. “It’s basically a far-right think tank,” Castillo said. “I feel like the political

leaning, obviously, leans to the right, but it’s also very American, anti-intellectual.” Other students like Bunce and Blobaum said they would not choose to take classes in the center because they feel it does not relate to their majors. astillo, who identiﬁes as a transgender woman, said she is happy to be graduating before the re uirement is put into eﬀect because it is something that would not align with her major or thinking. “I’m not gonna take a class where my existence is being debated,” Castillo said.

The Center for Intellectual Freedom’s website states it encourages conversation and civil debate. Freedom of expression is something students like Van Scoyk feel the university and the Iowa City community do a good job of making space for. “I feel like there’s a lot of outlets available to express yourself really on campus,” Van Scoyk said. Hannah Paul, a member of University Democrats at Iowa, said her student organization does not support the state’s decision to require UI students to take classes through the center. Paul said the legislation is taking away avenues for students to freely express themselves. “Just taking away what public education should be, which is the opportunity to explore diverse opinions,” Paul said. “It’s kind of just centering and focusing on only one [view] and taking away the opportunity to learn from other people and your peers in other classrooms that are not just focused on what the center is trying to work on.” The student organizations Turning Point USA at the UI and College Republicans at Iowa did not respond to the DI’s requests for comment at the time of publication. Turning Point USA has frequently drawn ties with the center and its programming. Some students are concerned if the state continues to set the requirements for education, instead of the university, there may be a shift in the ways students can express themselves. “We don’t have as much control over the Center for Intellectual Freedom, since it is mandated by the legislature,” Bunce said. “If we can t ﬁght back at all, then I would imagine that my opinion would go down.”

Q&A: In his own words UI and Midwestern University created an Articulation Agreement allowing qualified UI students to get a guaranteed interview into Midwestern’s health sciences programs.

In an exclusive 75-minute interview with the DI, Luciano De Castro lays out his vision for the Center for Intellectual Freedom on the UI campus as he vies for the permanent director position. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. The Daily Iowan: You’ve been an advocate for the center since the start. Going back to the basics, why do you see the need for it at the University of Iowa? Luciano de Castro: So one of the aspirations that I had is actually to give to the students of the University of Iowa the opportunity to understand deeply how our society works, and to understand why this country is the most developed country in the world, and is the richest nation. I would say that it’s the greatest nation in the world, and I know that people that were born here sometimes get a little bit ashamed of saying this, but it’s actually true. And one thing, we realize what’s working, and it’s not perfect. Our system is not perfect, but therefore needs to be made better in some aspects. But when you realize what are the strengths of this society, and you understand this, then you can actually go to the other countries, and say, “Look, if you imitate these things, it’s going to be a good thing for your society. This is an intellectual enterprise that ‘s useful and important, and this is why I think that it’s a very important thing to bring here. There is a perception that the center is a more political than academic [institution]. What would be your perspective on that? This is an academic enterprise. It’s not an ideological enterprise. This academic unit is to try to create, to achieve academic excellence, and to train the students in the highest possible level of academic excellence.

The perception is that people look at other units, what they do, and they think that we are going to do the same for the right, right? They see what happened on the left, but this is not the case. What I would like to do is to train students to see both sides of the argument and train them to see for themselves what’s the truth to come up with the truth. Why are you the best person to be the director of the center? This is not for me to decide, right? Other people can decide. I’m doing this just for what I have in my heart. I see very clearly that it’s something good for you, for the students of Iowa, and I want to create a program that’s valuable for the students. It’s much easier to pretend to do something, right? Pretending is easy. You say let’s pretend that we are doing something and do nothing, but it actually does not create value for the students. I actually want to do it… It’s a good thing for the students. I believe that it’s important. It’s valuable. If it’s valuable for the students of Iowa, then it’s valuable for the people of Iowa that support this university. I’m willing to do it because I see this as a duty, and I will continue to do it because of this conviction. What would your vision be for the required courses that would be offered in 2028, and how would they differ from courses that are already offered within either the political science department or the history department? We didn’t start developing these courses, and I’m not too familiar with the courses that are offered here [in the political science and history departments], so I don’t know. I cannot tell how different they are. I have some ideas of the kind of courses that we want to do, courses that have balanced readings, and then you go through the development of different fields. This is about economics, our American system, the law talks about history and American government. But if you look

at the why, you need to understand the histories just to understand how our society was formally organized, but fast forward to today, there are three interdependent systems that base our society. One is the economic system, that’s the capitalism form. The other one is the political system, which is the government, the institutions, etc. and the other is the culture — the way that the values that we absorb, Americans

absorb when they growing up and are taught all these American values. So these things are interconnected. These things are interdependent, and what you need to realize is how these things are connected and how they depend on each other. and these are the kinds of things that I would like to see in the context of our course, the two courses that we organized in the spring go in this direction.

CIF’s future faces election test The Iowa midterm election could shape how the UI’s new civics requirements take effect.

Most incoming University of Iowa undergraduate students will be required to take American history and government courses oﬀered through the university s Center for Intellectual Freedom beginning in Fall 2028 — but the 2026 election could impact how that requirement takes shape. House File 2800, signed into law by Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds in June, re uires undergraduate students at Iowa s three public universities to complete courses covering American history and government. At the UI, the Center for Intellectual Freedom is the sole academic unit authori ed to oﬀer courses satisfying the requirement. The mandate applies to students beginning enrollment during academic years starting on or after July 1, 2028. That leaves nearly two years — and a gubernatorial election — before the first class of students affected by the requirement arrives on campus.

The Iowa Board of Regents has a particularly signiﬁcant role because the Center for Intellectual Freedom operates under an unusual structure. Unlike most UI academic units, the center reports directly to the board rather than the

university administration. Christine Hensley, a member of the oard of egents and chair of the center s advisory council, described the structure as one of the center s deﬁning features during a December 2025 appearance on Iowa PBS. ensley said the center s leaders had worked extensively on bylaws intended to establish its direction and provide stability even if Iowa s political leadership changed. She said if Democrats gained control of the governor s office, legislature, or appointments to the board, the bylaws put the center “in a good place.” Hensley said she had heard concerns from parents, donors, and students who believed the university lacked ideological balance and open discussion. But Iowa PBS cited a 2024 Board of Regents survey ﬁnding percent of students said the university did not restrict free speech and percent felt comfortable expressing their views in class. The center s supporters have argued it will expand intellectual diversity at the UI. uciano de astro, the center s interim director, told Iowa PBS the center is intended to provide courses and research in American history, culture, and constitutional values while adding academic perspectives he believes are missing from universities. “It s not a political enterprise, de astro said during the interview. “It s not for ideology.”

Alex Smith, a UI political science professor, said a change in state leadership could affect how the law is implemented, even if a new governor could not unilaterally erase a requirement written into law. Smith emphasized that the possibilities are hypothetical and said he has no indication that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand, or opposing Republican candidate Zach Lahn, intends to pursue a particular change to the center. A future administration could influence funding decisions, appointments to the Iowa Board of Regents or the rules surrounding implementation, Smith said. A governor could also advocate for the legislature to amend the law. The center was initially created by the Republican-controlled legislature in 2025 and received a $1 million state appropriation. Its courses were originally optional. During the 2026 legislative session, lawmakers went further by making American history and government courses mandatory and requiring only the center offer the ualifying courses at the UI. Senate Minority Leader Janice Weiner, D-Iowa City, opposed the requirement and called the center a “partisan stunt.” Weiner said she supports civics education but objects to requiring UI students to complete it specifically through the Center for Intellectual Freedom, while Iowa State University and the University of orthern Iowa have more flexibility in implementing the requirement. Now that the requirement is law, however, changing it would require legislative action, Weiner said. If and wins the governor s race, but Republicans retain control of the legislature, for example, both sides would need to reach an agreement to amend the law. “At minimum, it could be changed to allow [the] University of Iowa to implement the civics requirement as the other regent universities are allowed to implement it,” Weiner said. In an interview with The Daily Iowan, Sand said he supports exposing students to a wide range of political ideas but questioned whether the state should dictate where students receive that education. Sand said while he was in college, he helped put together a class on conservatism because he felt he was not receiving enough exposure to conservative ideas. He said that experience showed him the value of encountering viewpoints students may disagree with, but noted the

class was student-led rather than imposed from the top down. “The free exchange of ideas and countering ideas that you disagree with is really important to education,” Sand said in the interview. Sand said preventing political indoctrination should not mean directing students toward one particular source of education. Instead, he said students should be exposed to ideas and courses from diﬀerent areas of the university. “If we don t want indoctrination and we don t people can have their education coming from diﬀerent directions, and it s not dictated from the top down as to what they re studying, and said. He pointed specifically to courses offered through departments such as history and political science as other places where students could encounter American history, government, and political ideas. “The bottom line to me is there should be a wide variety of classes available to students, and critical learning or critical thinking should be a focus of the education no matter what,” Sand said.

The requirement also presents a logistical challenge. Smith said thousands of students will eventually need access to required courses, meaning the university will need additional faculty and potentially teaching assistants. The center does not yet have the sta ng necessary to teach courses at that scale. “There is going to have to be an investment in faculty,” Smith said, whether those instructors are hired directly by the center, through the history or political science departments, or some combination of the two. The center is also searching for a permanent director, who Smith said could play a major role in determining how the courses and sta ng structure are developed. or students, the political ﬁght over the center could become more than a debate over university governance. Weiner said she is concerned about whether the requirement could add costs, complicate highly structured degree programs, or make it more di cult for some students to graduate on time. Erin Detlefsen, a third-year at the UI said the Center for Intellectual Freedom is the biggest issue on her mind when determining who she will vote for in the 2026 gubernatorial race. Detlefsen said she opposes the center in its current form, but does not expect either gubernatorial candidate to make signiﬁcant changes to it because much of its future will depend on the Iowa Legislature and Board of Regents. “I realistically don t think that this is the issue that is going to be my make-or-break for the governor, ust because I don t think either of them will actually do anything of meaningful change,” Detlefsen said. If Republicans maintain control of the legislature, Sand said he would have to “look at it more,” leaving open what, if any, changes he would pursue as governor as the university prepares to implement the requirement in 2028.

IC Church of the Nazarene celebrates 100 years The church has become a space of shared cultures around Iowa City and beyond.

The Greater Iowa ity hurch of the Nazarene celebrated its 100 year anniversary as part of ohnson ounty s elcoming eek. The celebration was filled with a diverse selection of food, supporting the church’s recent outreach into the multicultural community on the evening of ept. . The church began as a midweek prayer group in and has grown over the last century. urrent pastor of Greater Iowa ity hurch of the a arene Teresa tecker said the church has gone through some bumps in the road throughout its growth. In the beginning, in , the church was a repurposed Baptist church located downtown where the ld apitol all is today. ut by , the building had gone into disarray to the point the congregation could no longer repair it. They had to find a new church to call home. “They knew they needed a new building, and they were able to sell the old building and get a really good deal on the lots with the Towncrest Medical enter going up at the same time, tecker said. “They classified it as a miracle because they really didn’t know where they were going and whether they would have the money and the resources. They were able to build the current building we are now in and continued to worship. This wasn’t the only time the church’s future was uncertain, as ust years, ago the church was dying. “We had mostly older people, and there really weren t any new people. It would have been easy at that time for the church to make a decision to close their doors, tecker said. “ ut there were people who said, ‘We’re not ready to be done,’ and so they were willing to take steps of faith to open their door to people from other countries. She said the church grew as families from African and Hispanic backgrounds oined the congregation. The previous paster, Micheal Lynch, was the man who championed the change. “The most dramatic difference is we acknowledged and recognized a multicultural community, ynch said. “We had to go from the place of inviting people to be like we are and instead change from that perspective to more of how we

can embrace people where they live and a culture in which they understand. To do this, the Greater Iowa ity hurch of the Nazarene remodeled, stripping everything and rebuilding it into a shared space people could change to make it their own. “We call it our blank canvas,” ynch said. He said each church was responsible for bringing its own props for worship every unday. “Everything in here can be shared, and that was the rule, ynch said. “If it’s here, it’s to be shared with anyone

and everyone. However, the church ensures all the congregations are a community with its biannual service where all of the churches have a service together. “Twice a year, we all gathered at the same time, and we created an experience that celebrated everyone’s cultures,” ynch said. Stecker commented on the topic of opening the church’s doors to the community as Greater Iowa ity hurch of the Nazarene’s celebration occurred during ohnson ounty s elcoming eek.

“Welcoming has very much been the culture of the church. ertainly we see that as part of our faith and our mandate as hristians that we are to welcome others, tecker said. “ o many churches today, this is my take, have isolated themselves on some level from being a part of the community. To continue its outreach, she said the church has gotten involved with outheast iddle chool. “I hope a part of our church culture that continues is that we welcome everyone, tecker said. T he pa s tor of edar apid s irst hurch of the a arene and Superintendent of the Iowa District Tim arter said he s been impressed with the eﬀorts of the church and is excited to see its future. “I want you to start thinking about preparing for tomorrow, arter said. “ ou can t see it yet. ou don t know where it s going to be. ut I m telling you, it s gonna be big.

UI officials encourage faculty AI use The new UI “AI Discovery Initiative” encourages professors and staff to explore emerging technologies.

The University of Iowa is launching a new “AI Discovery Initiative” aimed at expanding artificial intelligence use among faculty and staff. The initiative has a $1 million budget, with funding coming from the university’s Public-Private Partnership, or . With this program, the university is employing the use of several well known AI tools, according to Associate Provost for Faculty and Strategic Operations arry Thomas. He said this initiative is only a small part of what the university is doing regarding AI, but this program specifically is meant for faculty and staff. e said the program s emphasis is on research. The UI is also using a new platform called NebulaOne, which Thomas said “allows us to offer a large number of specialized models that meet the individual needs of the researchers. Thomas said the initiative could potentially boost productivity when writing code. e named laude and odex, from penAI, as models that can help experienced coders yield even more productivity. “Really advanced LLM models are helping to make breakthroughs in science that people even a year ago would have said [were] absolutely impossible,” he said. Thomas also said he has hope for what AI models can do for medicine. “There’s great promise that we’ll see some of the greatest drug discoveries i n h i s tor y,” he sa id r ega rd i ng AI technologies. He hopes with new technologies being used and encouraged at the university, it will allow UI scholars to “stay on the cutting edge of their research disciplines. Thomas said LLM generative AI models can be used by staff to help summarize and analyze large blocks of text. e said the AI agent can help identif y critical points while saving time. Tools like these, he said, can help staff be “more effective and more e cient in the obs they re doing. While Thomas has big hopes for the outcome of this initiative, he recognizes A I use w ill look different across disciplines. e said in fields such as creative writing, AI use might not be used at all, but it can still prove incredibly useful in fields such as nursing. Part of the new initiative is a panel series titled “AI and society,” which Thomas said is meant to encourage “open discourse on campus surrounding AI.

“We have the upsides and the downsides, and we need to be talking about all those things, he said. The series will kick oﬀ in ctober with a debate from the UI Debate Team about AI and the environment. UI Debate coach Paul Bellus said the objective of this event is to begin a discussion on “the universit y’s responsibility when it comes to the environmental impact associated with the development of AI. He said this debate is meant to bring communities with differing opinions together. To support this, debaters will shed light on both sides of the argument. “We have to faithfully represent each side, ellus said. He also said spectators at this event can expect clashes and competing ideas. This initiative comes at a time when AI is being heavily contested, with students

garnering strong opinions for or against the use of the technology. “I wouldn’t trust it,” second-year UI student Aubrianna ox said. ox said while AI has potential to increase productivity, the potential cognitive impacts are concerning. “I would like there to be more research on it, ox said. Another student said the uncertainty around AI tools is a concern for them. “I feel very nervous about it being implemented,” second-year UI student hanel ennell said. Pennell also expressed anxiety when it comes to increased use of AI. They said their worry is AI will misuse data, or create false information. Like these individuals, UI student Jacob Wolf is concerned with the reliability of AI tools when it comes to the use of them on campus.

“It should be held to a lot of scrutiny,” olf said. As it relates to classroom use of AI, Thomas said conversations are still ongoing. e said the university is currently supporting classroom use on a case by case basis, but there is still work to be done when it comes to deﬁning those policies. Thomas also said human involvement will be important within all of these uses. e said the human user must still be involved within the process to ensure accuracy. While Thomas said AI tools will prove extremely helpful to UI faculty and staﬀ, he doesn’t see it replacing humans in the near future. “I think we’ll just be working alongside the AI so that we can do more than we ever did, he said. “It s not like things haven t been automated before.

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL Iowa Democratic and Republican gubernatorial nominees traveled to Iowa City for their campaigns last week. Rob Sand’s 100 Town Hall Tour stopped at the Iowa Memorial Union, and Turning Point Action hosted an Iowa First tailgate with Zach Lahn at Fieldhouse Bar & Grill.

SPORTS Kinnick, public safety staff address heat concern

For the season opener, temperatures reached 93 degrees amid an extreme heat warning in Iowa City.

Football season usually rushes in crisp autumn weather, hoodies, and jeans. But early season games can feel a lot more like summer than the approaching fall. The extreme heat of Sept. 5’s football game against Northern Illinois required fans to focus more on hydration than the game. At kickoﬀ, temperatures were degrees Fahrenheit, with 58 percent humidity amid

an extreme heat warning from the National Weather Service. Multiple Iowa competitions were moved that day to avoid peak temperatures later in the afternoon. The cross country Hawkeye invite was moved to a.m., the ﬁeld hockey game against all tate was moved to a.m., and the Missouri State soccer game was moved to noon. “Due to forecasted high temperatures throughout the weekend, the University of Iowa has announced schedule changes

for several athletic events…Iowa football’s game against Northern Illinois remains unchanged and is scheduled for a p.m. kickoﬀ, Iowa Athletics announced ept. . The Iowa athletics department and the ig Ten do not have o cial policies for canceling or delaying games from extreme heat. The Big Ten abides by NCAA lightning policies, delaying events for minutes until lightning is out of an 8-mile radius of the venue. However, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported

times more heat-related deaths between than lightning-related. The Big Ten did not respond to The Daily Iowan at the time of publication. Despite the absence of a policy, University of Iowa o cials took extensive precautions to help fans stay hydrated and safe throughout the game. In an exception to the stadium’s usual policies, fans were allowed to bring in an unlimited number of sealed water bottles and empty reusable bottles.

SeatStock: The safe way to buy and sell student tickets

UI graduates Josh Cohen and Brady Stein help college students safely buy and sell tickets for athletic events.

For students at the University of Iowa, getting season tickets for football is high on the priority list. Demand is higher than ever for season tickets, and students have to fall back on resale options to catch a game at Kinnick Stadium. Over the last four years, student season tickets have ranged in price from $175 to . The demand is always high for tickets, and not all students who want season tickets can get them. Students have adjusted by purchasing them on Snapchat stories and other resale sites. However, this also presents its own set of challenges. “Buying can be very difficult on napchat, UI senior Drake Denning said. “You can typically sell it pretty quickly, but it is kind of annoying when a lot of people ﬂood your inbox to buy it, and you already sold it. The ability to sell the tickets on social media is convenient for students, but it makes it hard for them to know the true value of the ticket. This can cause ticket prices to get driven up to for rivalries and top-25 matchups. The combination of ticket prices going up and the di culty of selling tickets led two former Iowa students, Josh Cohen and Brady Stein, to create the company SeatStock. SeatStock is a platform for students at universities to buy and sell tickets to other students. The site requires a university email to avoid scalpers and

Iowa women’s soccer shows signs of excellence and room for growth

Meg Tebben talks pregame routines and fast food

The Hawkeyes went 5-1-1 in non-conference action, but dropped their Big Ten opener at Minnesota, 1-0.

The Iowa women’s soccer team entered the 2026 season, its first under head coach Dean Ward, with a lot to prove, particularly following the departure of longtime awkeye gaffer Dave Dilanni to Michigan. The former Xavier head coach brought transfers such as fourth-years Lucia Englund and Reilly Heman, as well as third-year Savannah Hutchins, into the Iowa ranks. And while there’s plenty of room for the newer team to grow, these moves, so far, have done a lot of good. Despite the new faces, the Hawkeyes retained many important players, among them fourth-year Millie Greer and third-year Berit Parten. In an ever-changing world for college athletics, one where the transfer portal and name, image, likeness money have reached new heights in recent years, Iowa managed to get the best of both worlds. After an exhibition against Kansas on Aug. 8, Iowa opened up its season in front of a home crowd with a dominant performance against Milwaukee, seizing a 7-0 victory on Aug. 12. Five different awkeyes found the back of the net in the match, effectively starting off the season with a ma or morale boost. “I kind of knew we always had it in us,” Parten told HawkeyeSports after the match. “We know who we are and how we’re going to work together and work for each other. We have a tightknit group, and I believe we have the possibility to do something really special this year.” The momentum, however, didn’t stop there. Iowa’s next match was a high-scoring home affair against oyola hicago on Aug. , with the awkeyes taking a - triumph. The 12 goals across both contests to start the 2026 season were the most in two games to open a season in program history, giving fair warning to the AA that this offense was capable of lighting up the scoreboard. “It’s a challenge for other teams watching and scouting us,” Ward said after the win over the Ramblers. “If we can score from different players in different positions, it ust gives other teams problems to deal with, not just one player who is a goal scorer, but scoring goals in different ways. While Iowa was on a hot streak, its next obstacle offered stiff resistance in the form of a three-game road trip, starting with a contest against No. 11-ranked Wake Forest on Aug. 20. In contrast to the Hawkeyes’ scoring romps in their first two games, the Demon Deacons scored in the first minute to ump on the board first,

The first-year earned all-state honors in all four years of her high school field hockey career.

before closing the deal with another goal minutes in. With its first loss of the season on the receiving end of a shutout, it was clear to Iowa there was still work to be done. Any good team knows, however, that the most important thing after a loss is moving on. ith a - victory over U Greensboro on Aug. 23, Iowa began rebuilding its momentum, before shutting down Iowa State, 2-0, in the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series, hosted this season in Ames, Iowa, thanks to goals from third-year Kylie ino and ﬁrst-year ada Grove. Iowa showed early on that it’s more than capable of holding its own against opponents outside of the juggernauts of the Power Four — Loyola Chicago is from the Atlantic 10 Conference while Milwaukee is a Horizon opponent — but the same can’t necessarily be said for those four elite conferences. The Hawkeyes’ home conference, the Big Ten, dominates the back half of the schedule, while Iowa struggled against the ACC’s Wake Forest and the Big 12’s Kansas State, the latter resulting in a 1-1 deadlock despite Iowa’s higher ranking. The Wildcats took the Hawkeyes down to the wire in a 1-1 draw that nearly became a 3-1 loss. Kansas State third-year Gabby DeMers scored twice in the match, but both goals were ultimately disallowed, allowing Iowa to escape with a tie.

That kind of luck may present itself against a visiting Big 12 team, but when the remainder of your schedule includes multiple ranked conference foes such as isconsin and U A, it’s not something you can bank on— something Parten was quick to call out after the match. “We had a lot of chances that would ve made it a completely different game,” Parten said. “At the end of the day, we shouldn’t have that many goals scored on us. They only had six shots, and three went in.” Iowa’s Big Ten opener against Minnesota is another good example. The Hawkeyes led the Golden Gophers in shots, 22-12, but couldn’t convert to put points on the board. Luck didn’t save Iowa in Minneapolis, where the awkeyes fell short, - , in their first conference matchup. Even with the early losses and close calls, however, there’s plenty of positives to unpack, with players such as Englund and first-year goalkeeper Braelynn Galt shining on defense. Englund, a transfer from Butler, has been particularly impressive on both ends of the ball, providing a needed offensive spark plug and key one-onone defensive breakups for Iowa. For her part, Galt hasn’t needed to make too many saves yet, but did record a clean sheet in four of the program s first eight matches. The bottom line? Iowa is heading in the right direction, but this is a new team and the growing pains are visible at times. Good things take time.

Who is the best NFL player who played under Kirk Ferentz? Sports reporter Logan Miller argues for Bob Sanders, sports reporter Tate Balkenende fights for George Kittle.

Kirk Ferentz has been at Iowa for 28 seasons and has had 101 players selected in the NFL draft along with countless more undrafted free agents. Ferentz’s ability to get the most out of his players has been unparalleled. In this elite group of Iowa legends, Bob Sanders sticks out as Ferentz’s best NFL player to date. Sanders packed a punch as a defensive back for Iowa from 2001-2003. He was lightning-fast and hit like a freight train, striking fear into opposing oﬀenses. Drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the second round of the 2004 NFL Draft, Sanders battled injuries early on. However, when healthy, he showed plenty of potential. Over the next three years, Sanders would have one of the best stretches in NFL history for a safety. e racked up two A ﬁrst-team All- ro

honors, and won the defensive player of the year in 2007. Sanders’ 2007 season showed his versatility on the field with two interceptions, six pass deﬂections, and . sacks as a safety. Whatever the Colts needed him to do, he did it at an elite level. Since 2000, Sanders is one of only three safeties who has won Defensive Player of the Year. He joined elite company with NFL Hall of Fame members Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu. Safeties and cornerbacks have to go above and beyond to even have a chance at winning the award, which is typically given to elite pass rushers. Sanders was an integral part of the Colts Super Bowl winning team in 2007, and is the only player in Iowa football history to ever win an award as prestigious as Defensive Player of the Year. Ferentz has had multiple Hall of Famers play for him, but none have reached the peak like Sanders did. Hawkeye legends have had longer careers in the NFL than Sanders, but no player has yet to reach the levels Sanders did. The greatness of Bob Sanders can never be talked about enough, as he has been the greatest NFL player that Kirk Ferentz has had the opportunity to coach.

When people think of Iowa’s impact on the , they think of one specific position: tight end. We’ve seen players like Noah Fant, T.J. Hockenson, and many others start at tight end for NFL teams, but there is one name that stands above the rest. George Kittle, tight end for the San Francisco 49ers, has established himself as one of the best tight ends in the league, and the best NFL player to play under Kirk Ferentz. Kittle’s story at Iowa is interesting. He redshirted his first year in 2012, then recorded only six total receptions over the next two seasons. is fourth year in is when he really broke out. Expectations were very high for Kittle’s fifth and final year, but due to lingering injuries, he was not able to make the leap expected of him. His college career

ended with 48 catches, 737 yards, and 10 touchdowns. Despite the unfortunate end to his time on the Hawkeyes, Kittle was not done yet. The 49ers were willing to take a chance on him. They selected him with the 146th pick in the ﬁfth round of the draft, which would come back to be one of the best decisions the franchise has made in the past decade. Kittle didn’t necessarily burst onto the scene in his rookie season, but he had a solid year with yards and two touchdowns. He went on to have a historic year in his second season with a recordsetting 1,377 receiving yard season — the most by a tight end in a season at the time. e received his ﬁrst All- ro recognition, where he made the AP second team. In Kittle’s ongoing NFL career, he has receptions, , yards, and receiving touchdowns. Additionally, he’s earned honors to seven Pro Bowls, two First-Team All-Pro selections, and three Second-Team All-Pro selections. George Kittle arrived at Iowa as a 6-foot2, 180-pound freshman, but that didn’t scare Kirk Ferentz away. Kittle has been able to develop into one of the best tight ends in NFL history.

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Although preparations were in place, Derek Phillips, a member of the Hawkeye Marching Band, went into cardiac arrest during the first half of the game due to the extreme heat and died on Sept. 8 after his life support was removed. efore kickoff, innick staff distributed over , refillable water bottles and increased its first-aid resources and added designated cooling areas throughout the stadium. The measures were designed to give fans multiple ways to beat the heat as temperatures climbed throughout the afternoon. Dylan Reed, a field supervisor for ambulance services at the event, said they

responded to a record number of calls during the game. In the ﬁrst half, eed said they responded to over 100 calls. For comparison, in 2017, ambulance services had 78 calls over six hours during a game against Wyoming. “The heat was anticipated, and we increased medical and operational resources in advance of the game,” Matthew Weitzel, the UI’s associate athletic director of strategic communication, said. “This included increasing the number of paramedic teams, positioning additional ambulances at innick, and expanding cooling and hydration resources for fans.” The precautions reflected the seriousness of the conditions. While the players battled on the ﬁeld, the fans faced their own challenges in the stands.

non-students. “There was a huge discrepancy with pricing, within the same hour, you can find the same ticket for $75 and $200,” Cohen said. The development of the site wasn’t without its hiccups. Cohen and Stein were more focused on the business and marketing side of the company and had ups and downs when ﬁnding developers. “We found one at Iowa and at Iowa State, and we’re two months in, and in hindsight the process was going really slow, and they’re like, ‘Dude, I’m not working at a company where I just have equity,’” Cohen said. “We found

some developers through a mutual friend, and then we’re again two or three months in, and same thing, they quit because they didn’t want equity, they wanted to get paid.” After all of the ups and downs with developing the website, they ﬁnally found someone who could help them work everything out and get the company oﬀ the ground. Many of these scams were hard to regulate. It was out of the school’s control, and it was between two students on social media. Students who missed out on season tickets were at a massive disadvantage, and SeatStock was aimed at addressing that. “People would go sell an Iowa State ticket on

Snapchat for around $125, but the average price was $175,” Cohen said. “They’ll get more interest for it, and a couple dozen people message them because they’re like, ‘Oh, a cheap ticket from someone that’s veriﬁed on the class story, what could go wrong, and what do you know, they send the Venmo, and you can’t charge back on Venmo because it goes directly from your bank account.’” Situations like this showed an opening in the market, and SeatStock saw their opportunity. The creation of SeatStock would allow students to avoid Venmo scams and have a stress-free process when buying tickets. The process of creating SeatStock wasn’t always

Conncer Cox, a UI sports media student who attended the game, said he and his friends did their best to be prepared for the heat. “I deﬁnitely had more water than usual, Cox said. “My friends and I made sure to keep each other responsible and drink water.” Fiona Johnson, the director for ambulance services in Johnson County, said they had multiple meetings heading into the week in preparation for the heat. efore the season kicked oﬀ, employees underwent a preliminary training session at innick, working on drills and covering potential scenarios. “While that was an extremely busy game, our crews and agencies that were involved were adequately prepared for it,” Johnson said.

linear, but the pair knew the market had an opening they could capitalize on. Cohen and Stein have always had a passion for entrepreneurship that would help catapult their business to success. “We both were in the business of flipping sneakers and sports cards in high school,” Cohen said. “I had a couple of small businesses, like shoveling driveways, so we both always wanted to get in the business.” To get their company’s name out there, Cohen and Stein would go all over campus handing out ﬂyers to students. The pair also went to club fairs to promote their product, but the most eﬀective way to get the word out was word of mouth. Building a business while taking a full class schedule was a grind for the pair. “I was just always busy, it feels like you’re taking 36 credits instead of 18,” Stein said. The company may have started in Iowa, but they had their sights set higher. Using connections from high school, they realized this problem with tickets wasn’t unique to Iowa. This was a widespread problem for students at schools successful in football every year. Many schools across the country allow their students to transfer tickets to each other, but schools like Georgia, LSU, and Oregon do not. The students have to donate the ticket back to the university for them to redistribute the ticket

Reed said on a typical football Saturday, their team would receive around 10 calls per hour; this year’s opener was closer to 50. The ambulance services set up multiple cooling points near the stadium for public use, e uipped with mobile E and first aid, as well as multiple hydration stations. Reed said there is an ongoing conversation about a potential increase in these services as a preventative measure, and how best to keep the fans safe heading into future games at innick. “We need to make sure that people are staying hydrated,” Reed said. “You know your body. Don’t allow yourself to get to the point where you become a patient.” egan strander, a third-year UI student, was among the fans who left early as the heat became increasingly di cult to endure. “The first uarter was definitely the worst,” Ostrander said. “I saw the girls in front of me just getting very sunburnt and losing energy.” For Ostrander, the severity of the conditions became undeniable when planned performances were canceled. “When they said that the marching band and spirit squads would not be performing, it really hit me how bad the heat was affecting everyone, strander said. “I saw across the field a stretcher being hauled up the bleachers to reach someone and multiple people on the field being helped off due to the heat. While the heat on Sept. 5 took a toll on fans, players, and staff, the hope is the experience will lead to changes that will prevent similar situations in the future. “I didn’t think the game was going to result in the consequences it did, and in hindsight, I wish the game had been delayed to the evening hours,” Ostrander said. “But ultimately, nothing is going to change what happened Saturday. All it can do now is set a future precedent and help make future game days safer.”

back out. This helped Cohen and Stein narrow down where they could expand to. Ole iss was one of the ﬁrst schools to partner with them and showed the viability of the product. “They didn’t want students to gouge each other on the pricing of the tickets, so we have a price cap at Ole Miss set by the ticket o ce, ohen said. “The ticket office promotes us as the veriﬁed resale platform for student tickets.” The expansion to other schools outside of the University of Iowa led them to hire campus managers and brand ambassadors. The ambassador program would allow SeatStock to get its name out to untapped markets and let them know what might work at that school. The company is not exclusive to football, and if there is a large market for a sport at another school, they will tap into it. The ability to adjust what

Classifieds

market they are in has Cohen and Stein excited for the future. “I thought us making the Elite Eight was huge, that’s all you need is that belief. Do the fans believe? And I think that’s what makes the markets pop,” Stein said. Cohen and Stein saw an opportunity to capitalize on an opening in the ticket market, and wanted to create a site that saved students from getting scammed. While tickets are still being sold on social media platforms, the impact of SeatStock can be seen. The company has been able to reach almost 10 times the size of the market compared to last year. “I feel like that kind of feels like a dream come true. hen I ﬁrst started the project, you had to beg people to use it,” Stein said. “Now we’re getting a couple thousand people a week signing up, and last week we had around ten thousand people sign up.”

IT’S A HAWKEYE STATE The Iowa Hawkeyes defeated the Iowa State Cyclones, 16-13, during the annual Cy-Hawk football game at Kinnick Stadium on Sept. 12. Second-year kicker Caden Buhr sealed the Hawkeye’s victory with a 42-yard field goal in the final 15 seconds of the game.

The motivators behind mind-body workouts Yoga and pilates are growing exponentially on social media and college campuses, but what inspires instructors and students?

Across the University of Iowa campus, you can’t walk very far before running into a woman who looks like she practices one of the Holy Trinity of hot-girl workouts: yoga, pilates, or barre. It’s the women with perfectly curated stacks of gold and silver jewelry and bright matching sets with trendy patterns. It’s the women wearing flawless slickbacks and carrying boho-chic yoga mats strapped over their shoulders. You can’t help but stare and admire their effortless clean-girl energy. All three workouts have surged in popularity over the past few years and have been adopted by many young women across the country. For fourthyear UI student Kylie Crome, pilates was the obvious next step in her life. After coming to the UI, she felt lost on which workouts to participate in at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center. Growing up as a dancer, she was searching for something that felt familiar. She found community in her pilates classes. “I’m so used to the group environment, and growing up, a lot of yoga and pilates was used within dance to strengthen us and help with flexibility and the mindmuscle connection,” Crome said. After receiving her pilates certification through the rec center, Crome transitioned from participating in classes to teaching them. Her first pilates plus barre classes had about 15 people. Now, she teaches more than 100 people per class. “I ve never done a ob that is as fulfilling as teaching,” Crome said. “I don’t even remember that I’m getting paid to do this. I’ll do it for free. I just absolutely love the feedback you get from it and knowing that you’re actually making an impact on someone’s

week and them saying it’s the best part of their day or best part of their week, it’s just like, the craziest thing to hear.” Tiphanie Windy, an instructor for Hothouse Yoga in Iowa City, Coralville, and North Liberty, has been practicing yoga for more than a decade and teaching for nearly four years. She sees yoga not only as a workout, but also a creative outlet and a space for her to be her authentic self. “I feel like I can find that stillness and settle into this base and really find that mind, body, breath connection. I think that’s why a lot of people — and for me personally — fell in love with yoga, because there’s really no movement modality like that, where it really helps you and forces you to find that mind, body, breath connection,” Windy said. Katie Kronner, a fourth-year UI student, started going to hot yoga at Hothouse Yoga in Iowa City about a year ago. For Kronner, the speed of sculpt yoga classes draws her in. “I had done [yoga] at home a little bit, and I did more slow classes, like the Vinyasa classes, and then when I came here, I started doing more yoga sculpts, and I really liked those because they’re a little bit quicker paced,” Kronner said. For many women, the wellness aspect of these workouts are major motivators for getting them to class. Not only are they paying attention to their physical well-being by moving for the day and eating well, but they’re also focusing on their mental health and clarity. “We have our mind-body classes, is what we call them, so it’s a workout, but most of it is truly because it s benefiting your mental health and your mindset and it’s still calming and fun and makes you leave happier than when you came,” Crome said. These classes take inspiration from yoga practices by setting intentions, transitioning to a good headspace, and ending with a cool-down and a traditional yoga pose called savasana, also known as

the “corpse pose.” Both Crome and Windy work to make a comfortable environment for all of their students. Crome teaches by aligning her choreographed classes with whatever music she chooses for the day — like the Justin Bieber themed class she taught shortly after he headlined the Coachella festival this past year. Windy takes a different approach, as she likes to teach to a peak pose, such as the bird of paradise pose. By

teaching this way, Windy is able to drop Easter eggs throughout class, hinting at the ﬁnal invigorating pose of the practice session. “I really try to teach a class that I hope helps challenge people, but also reminds them of the strength that they have. I don’t want anyone to leave feeling defeated, but I hope that they’re reminded of the power and strength that they have within themselves,” Windy said.

What’s considered “alternative?”

Arts reporters Zoe Soares and Madisyn Hunt go head to head on what makes someone alternative.

There are set rules to being “alternative.”“Alternative” fashion is often seen as a way to set yourself apart from mainstream society. People may use it as an escape from the rules and norms of their daily lives and as a step into rebellion and individuality. However, upon entering this enticing world, many people stumble upon the di cult truth there are actually a lot of rules. You can dye your hair the deepest black, sport the tallest heels, get ﬁve piercings — but call yourself goth, and you’re shunned forever. All jokes aside, it’s obviously not this strict. But now that I have your attention, I will say the alternative life does seem to have its fair share of prerequisites. To help prove my point, I did some quick research: “What makes someone alternative?” There are many diﬀerent routes to take when learning more about this, but I personally chose to go to TikTok,

where there are active alternative groups that help expand on the topic of being alternative from their own experiences. Here, it all really boils down to lifestyle. The music you listen to, the ideas and values you stay true to, and the beliefs you hold. In other words, being alternative is not just something out of the norm it s the specific lifestyle and beliefs associated with a group. hile there are many differing opinions within these communities, what the majority of these creators will tell you is that being alternative is not just a style, but a lifestyle. There is actually deep history within this — being alternative is a movement of people coming together with strong roots going back as far as the 1920s. These movements are mainly based around nonconformist culture and going against the grain — not just in fashion, but in ideas. They have to do with inclusivity of all people, anti-racist and pro-LGBTQ+ movements, and much more. As most alternative people would tell you, being part of this umbrella goes further than just the clothes on your back or the media you consume. It’s about your thoughts, opinions, and lifestyle coming together to create what is considered “alternative,” and simply having a uni ue style or differing opinions from those around you doesn’t fit the bill it matters more what those opinions entail.

As someone who is not only chronically online, but has also been involved in alternative spaces online for about a decade, I have seen multiple alternative identities form, grow, and shrink. I have also seen my fair share of discourse across social media platforms. One decisive topic I’ve seen consistently among alternative people online is that you need to fit a fixed list of check boxes in order to be alternative. Sure, that can be very true for subcultures such as Goth and punk. But overall, I think we have forgotten that the word “alternative” just means to be the secondar y, less popular option. I find this more prominent when it comes to people’s personal styles. Yes, dressing coquette with bows, pearls, and feminine “prep school” attire is an alternative look. But the look and music — think Lana Del Ray — doesn’t have much to do with

the “going against the grain” lifestyle as much as older subcultures do. What also comes to mind is the newage “scenecore/TikTok alt” style with a iction shirts and baggy black-wash jeans. While those who dress in the style are dressing against the norm, I remember a few people from my high school who dressed that way and still made fun of alternative people. They ﬁt into the category of “alternative” because of the way they dress, that’s really it. In all of these cases, how people present themselves — and at times the music they consume — is what makes them alternative. In the case of alternative people who hold harmful beliefs, it never feels validating when someone like that is a part of your community. But it’s a reality every community has to come to terms with. I’ve noticed that no matter what community it is, members online are very quick to label other people and decide if they are valid in the community or not. When it comes to alternative spaces online, keep in mind that alternative is simply “other.” As long as someone isn’t trying to claim they are an alternative subculture that requires core aspects that they lack, the way people express themselves alone can simply make them “alternative.”

Fitting twee to a T: UI students explain the style’s reemergence Twee, a popular fashion style, gets dissected by UI students.

Patchwork dresses and colored tights; buttons, plaid skirts and polk-a-dots; headbands and scarves without a knot; a mismatched look. It’s a more mature take on what your mom would have made you wear your first day of first grade — now with Adrianne Lenker and The Cranberries ringing through broken earbuds and eyeshadow galore. Twee itself can be described in many different ways. It depends on the person, how they dress, and how they see themselves. “It’s expressing yourself in a way that’s fun and eclectic,” University of Iowa third-year Claire Peery said. Out of everyone Peery knows, one of them ﬁts twee to a T. UI third-year Grace Revis can be seen sporting dyed curly hair — which, like Ramona Flowers, changes every week and a half — long English-teacher cardigans, shiny ﬂats, and thrifted jewelry. “Grace fits into twee because she wears a lot of delicate clothes with contrasting shoes and accessories w h ic h m a k e he r out f it s s up e r personalized because the statement

pieces are unique,” Peery said. When COVID-19 hit, Revis was able to finally explore the different styles she had been longing to wear since her middle school days. The experiments helped Revis discover her fashion sense, growing into what her personal style is now. “I was able to be away from an audience while I made those changes, and so I was able to change based off of my own opinion and not worry about what other people said,” Revis said. Once she decided to make the change in her wardrobe, she went straight to the thrift stores. “Early high school, I got craz y serious about thrifting. And that’s how everything changed for me,” Revis said. “I feel like the only way that you can get twee clothes is by thrifting.” Through building her wardrobe, Revis has collected staple pieces in her closet she would be remiss without, giving insight into core aspects of a twee outfit. “Just generally, I feel like I have about 10 and a half billion cardigans. I cannot live without cardigans, boleros, literally anything of that sort.” She said. “One of the things I wear so often is just a black shirt with white collar that’s got lace, roses, and lattice on it. It’s so cute, and it’s such an elevated basic.”

Layering staple pieces with a glimmer of intricacy make up a big part of twee outfits. These items could be found in a retail store, but Revis recommends thrifting them. When creating a classic twee silhouette, particular clothing items come to mind, especially for Revis. “I’m imagining a blouse and high waisted skirt. I see that a lot, and I feel like I am drawn toward that. Also, a baby doll top. That’s like a reverse; a longer top, shorter bottom,” she said. The clothes, although important, aren’t the only aspects in a twee appearance that matter to Revis. Eye-catching hair, layered accessories, and colorful makeup all come together to elevate the look. “I put a lot of effort into my hair, and it is a very large part of what makes my style the way that it is,” she said. “But I feel like it really is what draws it all together. And God knows, I do not leave my house without putting on makeup.” There are also significant influences in pop-culture that help to round out Revis’ style and other twee-adjacent styles. “What comes to mind is 2010s era romcom movies like ‘Ruby Sparks,’ ‘100 Days of Summer,’ and just Zooey Deschanel herself,” Revis said. “Also that kind of era of alternative pop, or alternative

electronic music. Defi nitely when I was coming into my style, those were things I spent a lot of time listening to and watching. I think that era of fashion is when my opinion of twee really solidified itself, and I definitely feel influenced by those things.” For those who are a bit more hesitant to try out an alternative style, Revis has advice, which she listens to herself. “Put yourself in the era of twee. Maybe that’s part of my working definition, the 2010s. I’d say, put yourself in that time frame, listen to that music, watch those movies and shows, and things from that time,” she said. UI fourth-year Kaylee Osterhaus, who is into fashion, had her own advice on how someone who is interested in twee could start. “Someone could start dressing more twee by mixing styles and focusing on fabrics and designs. An example could be elevating business wear with fun patterned socks,” Osterhaus said. “I’d say thrifting definitely helps when curating twee outfits, sometimes you have to piece things together without having a full picture to create a look you like. Thrifting makes that easier by broadening the selection of fabrics, styles, and inspiration.”

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IC artists explore artistic expression How art is used to express opinions and encourage creativity in the Iowa City community.

ith its painted murals, local book readings, and chalkstained sidewalks, Iowa City appears as the perfect canvas for artistic expression by college students and community members. While Iowa City itself is a hub for artistic expression, there is a specific place that cultivates expression alongside the university and its students — the local gallery Public Space One. In Summer 2025, PS1 received a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, which funded a two year project called “Banned but Not Silenced,” promoting artistic expression in response to censorship. Executive Director John Engelbrecht led the program, which focused on community members gathering for discussions led by artists. “In some ways, it’s kind of a book club without a book, but the book would be the world we’re living in or the cultural landscape we’re in,” Engelbrecht said. He explained the goals of the program were to gain support for the creative work they do in relation to the political and cultural landscape, which they did through the grant, and also highlight the relationship between their organization and the university. While the project was not a strict collaboration between the gallery and the university, he explained that PS1 talked with members of the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art, professors, and students. Through the Stanley Museum, they found out about the grant. As part of the project, PS1 invited artists to talk about how the political landscape related to their work. One of them was Chicago-based independent curator and mixed-media artist, Brandon Alvendia. Alvendia had previously worked on a project with Engelbrecht called MdW, which highlighted works by Midwest artists across 12 states. He heard about PS1’s project through Engelbrecht and decided to participate. “I am an artist, organizer, and curator who likes really considering our current cultural landscape to figure out the best strategies to comment, or make action, or at least, engage the reality we’re in,” Alvendia said. When Engelbrecht told him about the project, Alvendia decided to research different artworks in the UI’s special collections, “Alternative Traditions in the ontemporary Arts, or AT A, specifically focusing on the collection within it called “Artists’ Works and Correspondence.” This collection focused on lesser-known avant-garde artworks from the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s. “These are artworks that circulated intimately and privately through the mail,” he explained. “The point was that a community was made around these kinds of private interactions, intimate relationships, and things to be an alternative to the broader art history scene at the time.” In November 2025, Alvendia led a three-part event centered around artistic expression. The first part was a lecture, in which he listed artists who historically had chosen to exit the public view, and either continued their work under a pseudonym or left the artistic world altogether. “Using pseudonyms, I think, was something that was very compelling to be able to talk about different social

conditions that would prevent them from making the work they wanted to make because of their identity,” he said. “Artists would want to talk about gender through making their name genderless.” One example was painter Georgia eeffe, who left ew ork ity for ew Mexico at the height of her career. After his lecture, Alvendia then led a breakout session, where he invited participants to share stories of times when they had ideas they would become someone else — an alternate reality of sorts. As an example, he shared the story of someone changing their career from doctor to writer. He also discussed artist Stephen altenbach, formerly a prolific artist in ew ork, who then moved to .A., and later San Diego, where he became locally known instead of nationally. He retired as a teacher at a community college. The final part of the event was a pro ect where he had the participants draw symbols that represented their different lives/alter egos on edible paper. Then, they ate a corner of the paper to represent the experience of taking on a new life. “Point is, [the] overarching idea was to play with this idea of identity, changing one’s identity, how to disappear, this country, things of that nature,” Alvendia said. At the end of Alvendia’s visit, PS1 began working on a collection of publications that documented the events of the program. Engelbrecht said they worked with Obermann Fellow Bella Spilotro to create Alvendia s specific publication. The 60-page publication includes the transcript of his lecture as well as the list of artists he discussed and other details. Along with that publication, PS1 hopes to release other publications detailing works by other groups within the organization. Engelbrecht gave the example of the mural project by the Center for Afrofuturist Studies. The 60-foot murals called “Oracles of Iowa City” are painted on the Old Capital parking ramp. This year will be the five-year anniversary since its creation. Through this program, Engelbrecht hoped they could stand up for cultural expression. He explained artists had historically faced this backlash in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and what was happening in the current world was very similar. He gave the example of the Dada movement, which happened in response to World War I. “I think art and culture is where we see our best values either elevated or pushed against, and we’re hoping to push against anyone who’s going to take those away,” he said. Within the University of Iowa campus, students and staff members are also finding ways to freely express themselves through art. From mixing music to performing arts, there are different ways to practice self-expression. Originally from the “Chicagoland” area, Veronica Sanchez graduated from the UI with a bachelor’s degree in communication and media studies in 2019. In 2023, she returned to the UI to pursue a master’s in strategic communication. Around the same time, she was hired as the administration and communications coordinator for the UI honors program. In the past year, she has embraced a side gig as a DJ, and taken her spot behind the booth at several bars in downtown Iowa City. “I’ve always been into electronic music. I think I’ve had a creative side of

me that wasn’t really getting expressed as I wanted it to be,” Sanchez said. “And I’ve also been really interested in seeing people DJ. I’ve always been interested in the methodology of music.” In Spring 2026, one of Sanchez’s friends, who also DJ’s, helped her start playing shows. While DJing is not her fulltime job, Sanchez said she enjoys getting paid to do something she loves. Gabe’s and Brothers Bar and Grill are her “go-to” downtown spots. Sanchez said she has always felt comfortable being able to express herself outwardly, reflected in both her appearance and lifestyle. Currently decorated with a sleeve of tattoos, Sanchez’s comfortability with the Iowa City community began when she moved to the city as a student. “In the environment of Iowa, it’s a lot easier to find a group you fit in well with than other places I’ve been,” Sanchez said, “I think that lets you feel more comfortable being able to express yourself.” Working in the honors program has given Sanchez a new perspective on opportunities for professional development and creative expression. “We have arts majors and cinema majors, and various types of people who are all able to find that little community within the honors program, or intersect with others,” Sanchez said. Overall, whether through honors, clubs, or other organizations within the university, Sanchez stressed the importance of students finding a group that matters to them. “I think finding your people is so important because if you have a group of people that you feel comfortable expressing yourself to, no matter what happens on the outside, you’ll be able to deal with it,” Sanchez said. “And I do think

there are a lot of places in Iowa City like that, even as times change and things go up and down.” UI students can “find their people” through various clubs and organizations. Rachel Manning, a UI fourth-year student, currently serves as president of both Alpha Tau Iota and the UI Color Guard. As president of ATI, the UI’s English honor society, Manning plans to promote club meetings through the use of sidewalk chalk. Meetings include nights where attendees create their own PowerPoints, decorate bookmarks, complete stories, and come together to promote their creative works. “It always catches my eye whenever I’m walking around campus and I see all the fun colors. I’m always intrigued to see what it says,” Manning said. “And this year for Alpha Tau Iota, we’re really focused on membership and getting more people involved in what we do.” In addition to club promotion, Manning also expresses herself as part of the university color guard. Manning described color guard as a “performative art splash sport,” using equipment such as f lags and rif les. Each year, members of the guard put together an artistic routine for the UI’s homecoming parade at the end of October. They also compete in winter guard, traveling around the state to perform. For Manning, artistic expression in color guard is shown through the freedom of movement each member of the guard showcases in their performances. “There’s so much you can do with a ﬂag or a riﬂe, and it s very cathartic in the sense that you can express a lot of emotion through improving a routine or performing a choreographed routine,” Manning said.