October 30, 2026 | by jhunter

Conservative watchdog organization Accuracy in Media has posted a video this week showing a University of Iowa senior academic advisor defending diversity equity and inclusion to a woman posing as a prospective student, telling her that the university’s core values “haven’t really changed a whole lot.”

The Gazette reports in the video, Carter Burks, a senior academic advisor for the UI College of Education, said to the woman, “We have some core principals we stand by pretty thoroughly….there’s also a lot going on politically in the state.”

The video is one in a series of “gotcha” undercover videos posted by the organization after states have passed anti-DEI legislation. In 2025, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed an anti-DEI bill banning its programming, staffing, spending and training across all levels of public education. Last summer, several videos shot undercover showed UI and Iowa State staffers denouncing the move to strip DEI from their campuses, and said the work was continuing anyway.

One of the videos led to a demotion of a University of Iowa employee and a broad investigation of the university’s compliance. Accuracy in Media has posted dozens of undercover videos since 2022 of faculty across the country with the same theme.

Continue reading 1630 KCJJ’s article here.

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By Robert Gadsden | Published on October 30, 2026

Two of Iowa’s top education lawmakers are telling the state’s university governing board that a biennial review of general education courses isn’t enough — they want DEI content banned outright from every course students are required to take to earn a degree. Rep. Taylor Collins and Sen. Lynn Evans sent a letter to the Iowa Board of Regents requesting a policy that would bar DEI content and related ideological frameworks from both core curriculum and major-specific required courses.

Lawmakers Want a Hard Line, Not Just a Review

Collins chairs the Iowa House Committee on Higher Education and Evans chairs the Senate Committee on Education, giving the pair direct influence over how the Legislature might respond if the Regents decline to act. According to Iowa Capital Dispatch, their letter argues the board bears responsibility for protecting students’ ability to complete their degrees without mandatory ideological instruction. As reported by kjan.com, the lawmakers sent a letter urging the board to adopt a clear, enforceable policy prohibiting DEI content in required coursework.

Their letter puts the demand in stark terms. “No student should be required, as a condition of earning a degree, to enroll in classes that treat identity-based outcomes as settled orthodoxy,” the lawmakers wrote, according to kjan.com. The legislators say they are prepared to help the board draft the new policy and work out how it would be implemented, per the Iowa Capital Dispatch’s reporting.

A Conservative Media Video Set Off the Latest Round

The letter follows the publication of an edited video from Accuracy in Media, a conservative media outlet that records university officials and posts the footage online, appearing to show University of Iowa senior academic advisor of elementary education Carter Burks. Accuracy in Media posted the video on October 27, according to the Iowa Capital Dispatch. In it, Burks reportedly described Iowa City as very forward-thinking within a conservative state and said there is room in the program for learning about African American culture, Native peoples and other wide-ranging history topics.

Burks is also shown saying the program believes in educating all students about what they need to know, while acknowledging that different professors interpret that mission differently, per the same account. He reportedly asked whether he was being recorded, and the person recording him denied it. Burks separately said staff had previously been fired for mentioning diversity and inclusion, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported. University of Iowa assistant vice president for external relations Jeneane Beck said Burks remains employed by the university and is not on leave.

Regents Already Reviewing the Letter and Video

Iowa Board of Regents senior communications director Josh Lehman said the board is reviewing both the video and the lawmakers’ letter, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported. This isn’t the board’s first brush with complaints tied to recorded footage of university employees: a previous round of complaints about university employee recordings resulted in one complaint being dismissed and another proceeding to disciplinary action in February 2026, per the same outlet. Around that time, Regents official Robert Cramer instructed an investigation firm to audit all three state universities for compliance with state and federal DEI laws, and Lehman said that audit remains ongoing.

The post Hoodline: Lawmakers Want a Hard Line on DEI in Iowa After AIM’s Latest Video appeared first on Accuracy In Media.

by Lucas Warren | Published on October 30, 2026

A University of Central Oklahoma employee told an undercover operative her whole job was technically illegal under the state’s new DEI restrictions, then reversed herself when later confronted openly by Accuracy in Media president Adam Guillette, saying her job was not illegal at all. The university says the comments don’t reflect reality on campus, insisting there are no illegal jobs at UCO.

Accuracy in Media, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that describes its work as citizen activism and undercover journalism, released the footage this month showing Shatima Bennett, UCO’s coordinator of student engagement within Enrollment and Student Success, speaking with an operative who posed as a former DEI official from another state, according to KOKH. In the recording, Bennett said, “Technically my whole job is illegal if you want to be honest,” according to The College Fix, which reported that Accuracy in Media published the four-minute edited video on Oct. 5.

When Accuracy in Media’s Adam Guillette later approached Bennett openly, she denied the earlier statement and said “my job is not illegal,” the outlet reported, declining to discuss the matter further on camera. Guillette told the publication the group investigates universities in states that have banned DEI to assess whether campuses are complying, and he said Bennett’s statements, which he called radical, were enough to raise concern — though he did not identify a specific UCO program, policy or action independently verified as violating the law.

What Bennett Said About Student-Led Workarounds

In the footage, Bennett described how DEI-style activities continue through student organizations rather than through her office directly. “These are student-led organizations. That’s kind of how it’s made legal,” she said, per The College Fix. She also said the law made employees’ jobs harder and required certain loopholes for some activities, per the same account.

Bennett pointed to a planned November 2025 march focused on missing and murdered Indigenous people as an example, saying students planned it while she advised them about logistics, according to Accuracy in Media. She said she helped obtain the route, explained the rules and walked in the march herself, but could not organize the protest because she is paid faculty and staff, per the group’s account.

The Law Behind the Dispute

Senate Bill 796, signed into law in 2025, bars Oklahoma public colleges and universities from using state funds, property or resources to support DEI positions, departments, activities, procedures or programs, according to the bill text filed with the Oklahoma Legislature. The law also requires institutions to review their DEI-related positions and programs for compliance and to submit an annual certification to the governor and legislative leaders, beginning July 1, 2026, per that same bill text.

The statute exempts activities of recognized student organizations, academic freedom, scholarly research, guest speakers and short-term performances, along with certain qualifying student-support services, so long as those services are designed and implemented without regard to race, sex, color, national origin or ethnicity, according to the bill text.

Read the rest of Hoodline’s article here.

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By Ryan Quinn | October 29, 2026

A House of Representatives committee accused the American Psychological Association of perpetuating antisemitism through “resolutions, listservs, newsletters, publications, and conferences” in a report released Thursday.

“Over several years, radical activist-academics have successfully co-opted the APA to politicize the association and promote ideology that demonizes Israel, minimizes Hamas terrorism, and portrays Jews as white oppressors,” says the roughly 20-page report from Republican staff on the House Education and Workforce Committee. “Meanwhile, APA leaders have repeatedly failed to confront antisemitism within their own organization.”

Committee chair and Michigan Republican Tim Walberg launched an investigation of the APA in December. In a news release Thursday, he said that “for an organization dedicated to understanding human behavior, the APA has done a remarkable job of ignoring prejudice within its own ranks. Its leaders have allowed antisemitism to fester and radical activists to turn a respected scientific institution into a platform for political agendas.”

The report criticizes actions by APA leaders and members who allegedly downplayed the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, noting that the APA’s statement about the attack did not use the word “terrorism.” (The statement did say, though, that APA “has condemned in no uncertain terms the recent violent attack by Hamas on Israel.”) The report argues that “APA leaders have repeatedly avoided unequivocally condemning the horrors of October 7th and antisemitism.” It also alleges some APA members resisted creating an ethnic psychological association for Jews because they said Jewish people have “white privilege.”

But the report also criticizes APA officials and members for their criticism of Zionism and Israel. Its critiques are sometimes granular, including about individual conference panels.

The publication comes about a month after an Education Department accreditation committee recommended suspending federal recognition of the APA’s accreditation arm over alleged failures to address antisemitism. Among the issues raised by members of that ED committee were the APA’s support of “decolonial therapy”—something the House report also criticizes.

The APA has also been targeted by the conservative group Accuracy in Media and writers from conservative think tanks for supporting diversity, equity and inclusion and allegedly fostering antisemitism.

The APA didn’t respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Read Inside Higher Ed’s article here.

The post As Congress Scrutinizes the APA, Inside Higher Ed Notes AIM Was Already Watching appeared first on Accuracy In Media.

By Brooklyn Draisey – October 29, 2026 4:57 pm

State lawmakers are once again calling upon the Iowa Board of Regents to tighten its restrictions on diversity, equity and inclusion content in required courses after a University of Iowa official was secretly recorded discussing the topic.

Rep. Taylor Collins, chair of the Iowa House Committee on Higher Education, and Sen. Lynn Evans, chair of the Senate Committee on Education, have sent a letter to the Iowa Board of Regents requesting the governing body develop a policy barring any “DEI content and related ideological frameworks” from all required courses, whether through core curriculum or major-specific courses.

The letter comes after Accuracy in Media, a conservative media company with a history of recording university officials and posting the videos online, published an edited video appearing to include UI Senior Academic Advisor of Elementary Education Carter Burks.

“The public’s trust in Iowa’s universities depends on concrete action that demonstrates our institutions of higher education exist to educate, not to indoctrinate,” the letter stated. “As the governing body charged with oversight of the state’s public universities, the Board of Regents bears primary responsibility for ensuring that students encounter a genuine marketplace of ideas and remain free to complete their degrees without being required to take courses steeped in divisive ideology.”

In the video, posted by Accuracy in Media Oct. 27, said there is “a lot going on politically in the state” but the college’s “core values haven’t changed a lot,” adding that there is room for learning about “African American culture, native peoples” and other “wide-ranging history” topics.

“We obviously, as a program, we believe in educating all students about everything they need to know about all this stuff, right,” Burks said in the video. “Different professors take that differently.”

He described Iowa City as “very forward-thinking” in a “conservative state,” and he didn’t believe that students would come to the UI and get a “very right-wing” education. Burks asked in the video if he was being recorded, which the recorder denied, and he mentioned staff had been fired for mentioning diversity and inclusion in the past.

Burks is still employed by the UI and is not on leave, UI Assistant Vice President for External Relations Jeneane Beck said in an email. Iowa Capital Dispatch was unable to reach Burks for comment.

Iowa Board of Regents Senior Communications Director Josh Lehman said in an email the board is aware of the video and has received the letter, both of which the body is reviewing.

The UI has dealt with other employees being recorded and publicized for their comments previously, with one complaint dismissed and the other having led to disciplinary proceedings in February. Board President Robert Cramer at the time instructed the firm that handled the investigation to conduct an audit of all three state universities for their compliance with state and federal laws relating to DEI, which Lehman said in his email is still ongoing.

Read the rest of Iowa Capital Dispatch’s article here.

The post AIM Video Spurs New Push to Bar DEI From Required Courses, Iowa Capital Dispatch Reports appeared first on Accuracy In Media.

Brendan McDonald ’27 | New Hampshire Correspondent | October 29, 2026, 4:41 pm ET

An undercover video from Accuracy in Media (AIM) shows a University of Iowa College of Education employee saying the school’s “core values haven’t really changed a whole lot” when asked whether its curriculum still includes concepts such as “privilege,” “oppression,” and “anti-racism.”

AIM published the video on Oct. 27 after recording it earlier in the month.

Carter Burks, a senior academic advisor at the College of Education, appears in the video. His university profile had been removed from the college’s website as of publication.

The Iowa Board of Regents is “aware of the video” and reviewing the situation, a spokesperson said.

In the video, an undercover journalist posing as a prospective student asks whether the college teaches topics such as “privilege, oppression, anti-racism.”

Burks initially said he wanted to answer but was unsure how to do so, noting that a former University of Iowa employee had been fired for talking about “diversity and inclusion.”

“We have some core principles we stand by pretty thoroughly,” Burks said.

“It varies class to class,” he continued. “There’s also a lot going on politically in the state. It might not be labeled explicitly as such, but our core values haven’t really changed a whole lot.”

Burks was referring to progressive DEI ideology in classrooms when he said “core values.”

“You will for sure not be disappointed by the education classes,” Burks added later in the video.

The remarks drew criticism from Iowa Republican State Rep. Taylor Collins, who posted to X on Oct. 27, “How much longer will we tolerate this?” while tagging the Iowa Board of Regents.

Adam Guillette, president of Accuracy in Media, told Campus Reform that Iowa officials should adopt a stricter prohibition on DEI instruction.

“Iowa must enact a North Carolina-style DEI ban which prohibits DEI from curricula and punishes offenders with $10,000 fines for each infraction,” Guillette said.

“Accuracy in Media previously exposed radicals who ignored the state’s DEI ban, and we were curious if they had become compliant with the law,” he continued. “As our video shows, they have not.”

Continue reading Campus Reform’s article here.

The post Campus Reform Covers AIM Video Showing DEI “Core Values” Persist at University of Iowa appeared first on Accuracy In Media.

by Vanessa Miller | Oct 28, 2026

IOWA CITY — A conservative watchdog organization that’s been secretly recording undercover videos across U.S. college campuses on Tuesday posted one this week of a University of Iowa senior academic advisor saying, “Our core values haven’t really changed a whole lot” — when asked about diversity, equity and inclusion.

“We have some core principles we stand by pretty thoroughly,” Carter Burks, senior academic adviser for the UI College of Education, said to a woman who was posing as a prospective student and secretly recording their discussion. “It varies class to class. There’s also a lot going on politically in the state.”

The video comes after Gov. Kim Reynolds in 2025 signed an anti-DEI bill banning its programming, staffing, spending and training across all levels of public education. Last summer, several undercover videos emerged showing UI and Iowa State University staffers denouncing the move to strip DEI from their campuses and reporting the work was continuing anyway.

One of the UI videos led to an employee’s demotion — following months of paid administrative leave — and a broad investigation of the university’s compliance.

UNI warning

Over the weekend, the University of Northern Iowa faculty union warned its members about reports of undercover videos being recorded on campus and to be on guard.

“We have heard reports that there was one or more people at UNI yesterday falsely presenting themselves as prospective students,” UNI journalism professor and United Faculty President Christopher Martin wrote in his Thursday email. “The goal seems to have been to direct the conversation to topics like DEI to try to get ‘gotcha’ comments from faculty members.

“Our concern is that these conversations may have been recorded and then edited to misrepresent what people said.”

In the new video released this week, UI’s Burks began to share with the faux prospective student that employees had been fired for discussing DEI and asked, “You’re not secretly recording this conversation are you?”

“No!” the woman said.

“Someone did that, and staff got fired over it,” he said.

“What did they get fired for?” she asked.

“Talking about diversity and inclusion,” Burks said.

“What the hell?” the woman said.

Continue reading The Gazette’s article here.

The post AIM’s Iowa DEI Investigation Draws Coverage From The Gazette appeared first on Accuracy In Media.

by Wendy Suares | Wed, October 28, 2026 at 10:00 PM | Updated Wed, October 28, 2026 at 11:04 PM

EDMOND, Okla. (KOKH) — The University of Central Oklahoma says it is complying with Oklahoma’s law restricting state-funded diversity, equity and inclusion programs after an undercover video released by a conservative activist group alleged an employee’s job was “illegal.”

Accuracy in Media, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that describes its work as “citizen activism and undercover journalism,” published the video earlier this month. The group’s operative posed as a former DEI official from another state and spoke with UCO Coordinator of Student Engagement Shatima Bennett.

In the edited video, Bennett said, “Technically my whole job is illegal if you really want to be honest,” while discussing the impact of Oklahoma’s new anti-DEI law.

She went on to say the work had not stopped because students could lead certain activities.

“There are ways the students can honor it. These are student-led organizations. That’s kind of how it’s made legal,” Bennett said in the video.

The video also includes Bennett saying the law made employees’ jobs “a little harder” and that they had to go through “certain loopholes” for some activities.

But Bennett later denied her job was illegal when confronted on camera by Accuracy in Media President Adam Guillette.

“My job is not illegal,” she said.

Read the rest of OKC FOX’s article here.

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At the University of Iowa’s College of Education, senior academic advisor Carter Burks offered an undercover Accuracy in Media journalist a revealing explanation of how the program approaches politically controversial subjects within the restrictions.

When asked whether students could still study topics such as oppression, antiracism, and privilege, Burks appeared to carefully consider his response.

“I want to answer that. I’m trying to think how best to go about it,” he acknowledged.

“We have some core principles we stand by pretty thoroughly,” Burks explained. “It varies class to class. There’s also a lot going on politically in the state.”

Then the conversation took a turn with Burks asking directly if the investigator was recording the conversation.

“Someone did that and staff got fired over it,” he confessed.

When asked what those employees had been fired for, Burks answered:

“Talking about diversity and inclusion.”

Despite his concern about being recorded, Burks continued describing how students could encounter the subjects the undercover journalist had asked about.

He referenced opportunities to study African American culture, Native American experiences, and broader topics in history.

“And you will for sure not be disappointed by the education classes,” he said.

Burks was pushed to clarify whether those subjects would still be explicitly identified as DEI.

“It might not be labeled explicitly as such, but our core values haven’t really changed a whole lot.”

Burks continued:

“We obviously, as a program, we believe in educating all students about everything they need to know about all this stuff, right? Different professors take that differently.”

For an institution responsible for preparing future K–12 educators, those questions deserve better answers.

“In general, Iowa City is very forward-thinking,” he said, contrasting the local community with the state’s “right wing” stances.

The conversation ended with an admission of Burks’ indirect answers.

“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable with all of this. It’s an awkward topic,” he said.

Then, gesturing toward a rainbow flag displayed across his desk, he added:

“I want you to know how I think. There’s my rainbow.”

Over the past four years, AIM’s undercover investigations involving school administrators in West Des Moines, Urbandale, and Waukee have revealed shocking statements about how they have integrated DEI concepts into every aspect of education. Not even K-12 mathematics is safe.

Iowa administrators who knowingly violate state law must not be allowed to evade it without consequences. Visit SaveIowaStudents.com to send one message directly to the Iowa Board of Regents demanding a strict ban on all DEI in the curriculum, along with consequences for those who continue to promote identity politics.

The post “Our Core Values Haven’t Changed”: Undercover Video Raises DEI Ban Questions at University of Iowa’s Education Department appeared first on Accuracy In Media.

Posted on October 23, 2026 | By Charlotte Wysocka – Franciscan University of Steubenville

Texas Christian University wants to hire a new composition professor who is particularly versed in “trans rhetoric,” “Black studies,” or “antiracist rhetoric.”

Applicants for this new rhetoric and composition professor job, starting in August 2027, will also be considered if they have interests in “disability studies,” “global/transnational rhetorics,” or feminism and “queer rhetorics.”

The Department of English will host this new hire, which will also give them an opportunity to teach in the gender studies and ethnic studies programs. These programs were collapsed last year into the English department due to budget issues and low enrollment.

“Candidates with relevant expertise may also contribute to our department’s programs in Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies and Women and Gender Studies as well as the program in Digital Culture/Digital Analytics and other interdisciplinary initiatives,” the posting states.

The College Fix reached out to Texas Christian University for a comment regarding how the job listing fits into the department’s learning goals and with the school’s mission as a private, Christian institution.

“I’ll look into it,” spokesman Greg Staley told The Fix. He has not provided any further information in the past several weeks.

Corey DeAngelis, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told The College Fix that the job listing is an example of higher education prioritizing political ideology over foundational skills.

“TCU’s job ad for a rhetoric and composition professor reads like a DEI loyalty test,” DeAngelis told The College Fix. “They want someone in ‘rhetorics of health and medicine’ whose research draws on disability studies, Indigenous studies, Black studies, feminist rhetoric, queer rhetorics, and antiracist writing.”

DeAngelis said that universities should focus on fundamentals like grammar and clear arguments instead of political trends.

“Students in rhetorics and composition should learn how to write clearly, build an argument, use evidence, and handle grammar,” DeAngelis said. “‘Trans rhetorics’ does not belong on the hiring criteria for a writing professor.”

DeAngelis said higher education risks neglecting basic literacy in favor of activism.

“Universities keep staffing writing programs with political activists and then wonder why graduates can’t produce a coherent sentence,” he said. “Parents and students deserve instruction in literacy, not another faculty search built around gender ideology.”

This is not the only job posting at TCU to draw scrutiny from outside experts.

The Brite Divinity School, affiliated with TCU, previously sought a Biblical scholar with a background in “gender and sexuality studies, womanist, feminist, queer, postcolonial, postmodern, and racial/cultural studies.”

Though independent from the university on paper, it operates on TCU’s campus and offers collaborative degrees, The Fix previously reported.

Charisma Peoples, an ambassador with Project 21 who has theology degrees herself, said “divinity schools should exist to train pastors, not produce progressive academics.”

Video released in June by Accuracy in Media also shows a Texas Christian professor discussing how the school’s health sciences program continues to focus on DEI and “race conscious” topics.

Professor Aesha Johnson said while the school is officially Christian, in practice it isn’t “in a lot of ways.”

“I think we are very progressive,” she said.

Read The College Fix article here.

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