Board of Regents at odds with Noem on drag shows

Regents will not change policy to ban despite calls by the Governor

The South Dakota Board of Regents won’t adhere to demands from Gov. Kristi Noem that drag shows be prohibited on the campuses of the state’s public universities.

During a meeting in Rapid City Wednesday, Regents said they will not step in to stop a drag show from taking place next week at the University of South Dakota, and a policy adopted earlier this year barring children from attending the event goes far enough.

“We have hundreds of student organizations that host thousands of events each year,” BOR Executive Director Nathan Lukkes said, directly addressing the governor’s repeated calls in recent months for the Regents to reign in progressivism in higher education. “They’re critically important and it is an important process for students to be able to engage and interact as they see fit on our campuses.” 

Regents adopted a “minors on campus” policy aimed at keeping people under 18 from attending drag shows in May. But just weeks later, Noem penned a letter to Regents contending in-state academia had allowed “liberal ideologies to poison” college campuses, while calling for the board to put a stop to all drag shows on college campuses, among several other demands.

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