Report: Iowa Knew of Racial Issues Inside Football Program as Early as 2019

A University of Iowa Diversity Task Force released a report in 2019 that outlined instances of racial biases and inequalities within the football program, according to Rob Howe of HawkeyeNation.com.

That report was presented to Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz and athletic director Gary Barta. 

According to the findings, Black football players felt they were:

• "Expected to conform to White culture"
• "Subjected to verbal harassment"
• "Targeted for extra drug testing"
• "Misled about resources available to them during the recruiting process"
• "Subjected to inequitable discipline policies and double standards"
• "Misunderstood by both coaches and White player"
• "Unsupported in their academic pursuits"

In June, former Iowa player and current Chicago Bears offensive lineman James Daniels detailed several instances of racial inequalities within the program:

A number of other players shared their stories as well:

“I think you could argue that (the Iowa Football culture) has been healthy based on results,” Ferentz said June 7. "My responsibility and my charge is to make sure (racism) isn’t prevalent in our program...I would not quantify that as a major issue right now."

"I had convinced myself that we were doing enough," Barta added during a press conference June 15. "Frankly, the past few weeks have been a wakeup call for me, I know [for] Kirk. But everybody in Iowa Football and Iowa athletics [was woken up]."

The existence of the 2019 report would seem to contradict both of those statements, however. 

The tangible result of Iowa's culture is that Black players transfer away from the school at a disproportionately high rate.

Additionally, Howe wrote, "A study done by USC's Race and Equity Center shows that among 65 Power 5 football programs, Iowa ranked 60th in graduating Black student-athletes. In the Big Ten, its 37 percent differential between graduating Black and white student-athletes ranked as the highest in the conference. The study looked at the years 2014-18."