"The nonprofit Common Sense Institute reported student interest and enrollment was low — with just eight students in one class. The report said enrollment is unlikely to grow unless the state mandated students take the classes, which is exactly what Republican lawmakers passed."
But despite the overtly Orwellian effort, the Democrats responded in typical ineffectual, tone-deaf fashion:
"Democratic Sen. Janet Petersen slammed that idea, arguing it will drive up costs for Iowa college students and their families."
Costs. Yeah. That's the problem.
> Iowa lawmakers move to mandate students take Center for Intellectual Freedom classes amid low enrollment
I'm all for challenging assumptions and what not, but that should come with a willingness to change one's mind when confronted with compelling evidence. I see a paucity of that from the people who push this kind of stuff.
1 https://www.thegazette.com/news/gop-invited-to-center-for-in...
2 https://www.thegazette.com/news/education/university-of-iowa...
3 https://www.iowapublicradio.org/state-government-news/2023-0...
https://cif.uiowa.edu/sites/cif.uiowa.edu/files/2026-03/syll...
https://cif.uiowa.edu/sites/cif.uiowa.edu/files/2026-03/syll...
Indeed. And what better way to prove it than by mandating six credit hours worth of tuition fees on the topic?
This is the opposite of free intellectualism. It is faculty hired for their political beliefs and curricula created for political ends and mandatory enrollment so students must be exposed to these ideas whether they like it or not.
