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University Gets $16.6 Million in Emergency Relief, Hires “Associate Vice President for Diversity”

(The College Fix) The University of Iowa’s values haven’t changed even as the coronavirus pandemic poses the worst threat to its finances since the Great Recession.

The taxpayer-funded institution, slated to receive $16.6 million in COVID-19 relief under the federal CARES Act, is still moving forward with plans to hire a new associate vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion.

The search firm for the new hire held virtual meetings with students, faculty and staff Wednesday “to receive feedback on what a search committee should look for and expect from an associate vice president for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” drawing 39 students for that specific meeting, The Daily Iowan reports.

One student called for the position to report directly to the university president because the official would have the closest contact with “marginalized identities,” in the paraphrase of the newspaper….

The previous diversity chief, TaJuan Wilson, quit after six weeks and got to keep $250,000 in apparent violation of his contract.

The administration gave him paper-pushing duties, including the creation of two PowerPoint presentations, while he searched for a new job on the clock at the university. Wilson started a similar job at Georgia Southern University last month.

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