LBCC stands behind DEI values, undeterred by Trump administration

Each year, Long Beach City College receives tens of millions of dollars in federal funding for a wide range of programs and services — from food and housing support for students to post-9/11 veteran education assistance.

Now, the Trump administration is threatening to withhold federal funds from colleges unless they give up diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies — a move Long Beach City College officials say they have no intention of making.

“Long Beach City College remains deeply committed to fostering a safe campus and fruitful learning environment for all students, faculty, and staff, in accordance with our core principles and state and federal law,” officials said in an emailed statement Friday.

“At this time, LBCC is continuing all programming and initiatives that create opportunities, remove barriers, and support student success, until any changes are deemed necessary in accordance with the law,” they added.

The community college’s core principles are riddled with DEI. In fact, LBCC’s 2022-2026 Strategic Plan used DEI as a foundation for its vision moving forward. Throughout the 24-page document, “inclusion/inclusive/inclusivity” are mentioned 20 times, “diversity/diverse” 11 times and “equity” 25 times.

DEI is listed as one of four core values, joining “teaching and learning,” “collaboration and community,” and “creative leadership and exploration.”

The words “race,” “racism” and “racial” appear in the document a combined 19 times, often accompanied by "justice" or "anti," including in the first listed goal: By creating an inclusive, anti-racist and welcoming environment, all students and employees will feel that their voices matter and that their identities are valued and reaffirmed.

Last year, the college even launched the Black Student Success Center to “increase student success rates, foster a sense of belonging and mattering, and provide equitable experiences for Black Scholars.”

But DEI policies do not end at race. They include veterans, people with disabilities (both mental and physical), gender and sexual orientation — any other group with a history of marginalization.

These values, however, fly in the face of President Donald Trump’s administration. In a Valentine’s Day letter from the Department of Education to campuses and states across the country, Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor lambasted educators, saying “educational institutions have toxically indoctrinated students with the false premise that the United States is built upon ‘systemic and structural racism’ and advanced discriminatory policies and practices.”

In the Feb. 14 letter, Trainor rails against DEI policies, saying they discriminate against white and Asian students at all levels of education, as campuses have implemented “repugnant race-based preferences” with regard to admissions, financial aid, hiring, training, and other institutional programming.

Trainor pushed the thinly-veiled idea that DEI policies encourage anti-white rhetoric, a common complaint among conservatives who believe racism against white people is rampant.

“DEI programs … teach students that certain racial groups bear unique moral burdens that others do not,” Trainor wrote. “Such programs stigmatize students who belong to particular racial groups based on crude racial stereotypes. Consequently, they deny students the ability to participate fully in the life of a school.”

The letter went on to accuse college campuses of segregating student housing and other facilities as well as graduation ceremonies, in a “shameful echo of a darker period in this country’s history.”

The graduation events in question are in addition to traditional commencement ceremonies, not a replacement, and allow specific communities to celebrate their accomplishment “in a culturally affirming way,” according to the LBCC website. The college’s Office of Student Equity is slated to host five “Cultural Graduation Celebrations” this spring: Native, Lavender (Pride), APID (Asian Pacific Islander Desi), Black and RAÍCES (Latina/o/x).

A note at the bottom of the page explicitly states these celebrations “are distinct from the college’s Commencement Ceremony,” during which degrees are conferred to all graduates regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation.

The American Council on Education, along with more than 60 higher education associations, have called on the DOE to rescind Trainor’s letter, saying it has sparked “widespread concern and confusion.”

“The Department should encourage inclusive and welcoming educational environments for all students, regardless of race or ethnicity or any other factors,” the Feb. 25 letter reads, adding that “efforts to build inclusive and diverse campus communities are neither discriminatory nor illegal.”

Trainor’s letter gave campuses 14 days to comply by removing all vestiges of DEI under the guise of enforcing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or risk losing federal funding — a deadline that has already come and gone.

During the 2023-2024 academic year, LBCC received nearly $58 million from the Department of Education, or 16.3% of its overall budget, according to spokesperson Stacey Toda. Over the last five years, the college has averaged about $65 million per year, she added.

The money funds a host of programs and services like Pell Grants, grants for students facing housing and food insecurity, grants for older learners re-engaging in college, wrap-around support for students, professional development for faculty and more.

In the last academic year, the college received another $65.7 million in federal funding from outside the DOE, according to Toda. That money funded many other programs and services, including the Small Business Development Center, numerous veterans services, child nutrition and child care development.

“Funding for competitive programs are intended to support nearly 13,000 students,” Toda said. “This funding does not include financial aid, Perkins, or the other funds where roughly 15,000 students in 2023-2024 directly benefited.”

Federal dollars fund over 200 full- and part-time positions across LBCC’s two campuses, Toda said, with many of the part-time jobs held by students of the college or who are enrolled in a bachelor’s or master’s program.

“Should funding be reduced or eliminated, many students may encounter difficulties completing their degree or certificate programs and the number of jobs available in the region would decrease," according to Toda. "LBCC would work diligently with the LBCC Foundation and other partners on fundraising opportunities. However, it is unlikely that all federal funds could be replaced.”

Despite Trainor’s bluster, though, a footnote in the letter acknowledges that this new guidance “does not have the force and effect of law and does not bind the public or create new legal standards.”

Lawyers, meanwhile, have criticized the letter and the guidance it contains, calling it an “overreaching,” “skewed” and “ambiguous” attempt at “regulation by fear,” according to a USA Today report.

“These agencies enforce the law,” said Stacy Hawkins, an employment law professor at Rutgers University. “They don’t make the law.”

“They seem to be suggesting that if you have any goal of having a diverse student population, then you’re violating the law,” Texas-based education lawyer Gharapour Wernz said. “I just don’t think there’s any basis for that.”

While many lawyers do not believe this letter is enforceable and that schools should not overreact, they are also cautioning to seriously consider what level of risk they are comfortable with.

Enforcement of the legally ambiguous policy, though, is also questionable as the Department of Education — the smallest cabinet-level agency — has already had its probationary workers laid off. In a memo sent out Friday, the agency’s top human resources official offered workers “up to” $25,000 to quit or retire before Tuesday.

The memo marks the latest attempt to gut the department that President Trump has said he wants to “close immediately.”

“The potential dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education signals a diminished federal commitment to education, especially for our most vulnerable students,” Toda said. “While the Administration has suggested restructuring certain responsibilities into other departments, removing education as a cabinet-level position undermines its importance.

“Community colleges were created to provide an affordable, accessible pathway to higher education, particularly for first-generation and low-income students. Without federal oversight, financial aid access and student protections could be at risk, making higher education less attainable.”