PRESS RELEASE: Arizona Latino, Black, Asian American and Indigenous Caucuses Oppose Federal Cuts to Minority-Serving Universities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sept 15, 2025

PHOENIX -- The Arizona Latino Legislative Caucus, Daniels-Sims Arizona Legislative Black Caucus, Asian American Legislative Caucus, Indigenous Peoples Caucus and LGBTQIA Caucus  released the following statement in response to the Trump Department of Education's efforts to end grant funding for Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) and other minority-serving colleges.  

"We stand in unity and with deep concern and opposition to Donald Trump and Linda McMahon's disastrous move to eradicate grants to Hispanic Serving Institutions, as well as grant programs that help other traditionally under-represented minority students at Predominantly Black, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Asian American, and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions. Arizona's Hispanic population is 31 percent. To have all three of our state universities and all 10 of our community colleges qualify as HSIs where at least 25 percent of the full-time undergraduates are Hispanic is a point of pride and success. These students are graduating and succeeding across all sectors of our economy. To pull back tens of millions of dollars in competitive grants simply because those students are present is an afront and an attack on our state and communities.

Talent is equally distributed across all our communities, but we know that too often opportunity is not. Acknowledging and addressing disparities by providing more opportunities harms no one while paying huge dividends across our shared society and in our economy. And while the Trump Administration does not yet claim to target Historically Black Colleges and Universities, we know that this assault will not stop until the country stands together to say 'Enough!'. The Trump Administration's commitment to taking our country backwards and undoing that progress should be an alarm bell for all of us and should be soundly rejected."

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