The Iowa House advanced a package of bills that would reshape governance and curriculum at the state’s three public universities, requiring mandated American history and government courses and new oversight of course content flagged as related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) or critical race theory. Lawmakers would empower the governor-appointed Board of Regents to eliminate flagged course requirements and to select presidents from pools chosen by a five-regent committee. The measures, driven by House Speaker Pat Grassley and Higher Education Committee chair Rep. Taylor Collins, would shift power from faculty-led curriculum and search committees to politically appointed regents. Faculty governance groups warn the proposals could erode academic autonomy and prompt legal challenges over academic freedom; proponents call them checks on ideological capture.