The Brief

A letter earlier this month from new U.S. Department of Education leaders sent shockwaves through K-12 and higher education institutions. In a Feb. 14 "Dear Colleague" memo, the department directed schools to stop using race to admit students or for any other consideration, including scholarships, housing, and "all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life."

The department said it would enforce compliance at the end of February and punish institutions by withholding federal funding.

In the face of uncertainty, some Southern California college educators are waiting for leaders of their campuses to give them clear direction as to whether diversity programs and efforts will be curtailed or shut down — or whether the institutions will resist the Trump administration’s directions in court.

“There are a group of us across institutions, especially in California, who are saying it's time to actually double down on doing diversity, equity and inclusion work,” said Liane Hypolite, a professor of educational leadership at Cal Poly Pomona. “This isn't the time to just comply … out of fear."

Providing data on how students feel

The letter paints diversity programs in a stark light.

“These institutions’ embrace of pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences and other forms of racial discrimination have emanated throughout every facet of academia” and led to discrimination, including of white and Asian students, the department said.

Diversity programs, supporters say, help the targeted students and the population at large.

The USC Race and Equity Center, for example, offers campus climate surveys, said executive director Jessica T. DeCuir-Gunby.

Those surveys can be taken by students or employees to “assess what's going on, see how everybody's feeling," she said. "And then based upon that, we'll, you know, write up a summary and give it to the leadership and let them know, this is what's going on in your institution.”

The goal is to improve inclusion of people of different races, ethnicities, religious, sex, and gender in schools and the workplace.

Graduating students take their seats at the Fresno State Chicano/Latino Commencement Celebration in the Save Mart Center in Fresno on May 18, 2024.

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“Everyone in academia is taking this letter very seriously,” DeCuir-Gunby said. “We are looking to leadership to help us to better understand their interpretations of the letter.”

USC spokesperson Lauren Bartlett said the university is studying the letter.

Spaces for culturally specific activities

The Department of Education letter says “many American schools and universities even encourage segregation by race at graduation ceremonies and in dormitories and other facilities.” It’s calling for those policies to stop.

Campus employees say cultural centers fall within that claim. Many colleges and universities have taken steps to create and fund cultural centers based on student groups’ race, ethnicity, sex, or gender.

“[Cultural centers] end up being these spaces where students can find refuge that they often cannot find on the rest of their college campus,” said Hypolite of Cal Poly Pomona. “They are places where students get connected to services. They actually welcome in, for example, culturally relevant therapists that might work in the counseling center, but students don't feel comfortable going there."

That helps students' social and emotional well-being, she said, which raises the likelihood that they’ll stay enrolled in college and earn their degrees.

“I just haven't seen that kind of really solid communication saying, essentially, ‘We stand with our most marginalized students right now,’ which is what our students need to hear,” Hypolite said.

Dr. Cornel West speaks at a Juneteenth event.

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Cal State University

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CSU Chancellor Mildred García did email CSU employees about a week before the U.S. Department of Education letter that the Trump administration’s executive orders would not change the school's commitment to students.

“I write to assure you that, in this moment, the CSU will do what all great institutions — and great people — do in times of uncertainty and change. We will turn to and uphold our core values. We will honor our purpose. We will fulfill our mission,” García wrote.

The California Community College chancellor’s office did not specify how it will respond to President Trump’s directives.

“We are encouraging college leaders to continue their critical work in alignment with state and federal laws, regulations, and our shared goal of expanding educational opportunities, strengthening student pathways, and supporting workforce development to meet California’s economic needs,” said Melissa Villarin, a spokesperson for the California Community Colleges chancellor's office.

A way to meet the federal government’s own requirements

Biola University in Southeast L.A. County is a religious school; its mission is to offer a “biblically centered education, scholarship and service — equipping men and women in mind and character to impact the world for the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The university's board of trustees approved a theological statement on diversity in 2019, which among other things states: "Unity without diversity ceases to be unity and becomes uniformity, and diversity without unity ultimately becomes either radical tribalism or individualism."

It’s also trying to become a Hispanic-Serving Institution, a federal designation that comes with requirements to help Hispanic students in order to tap into federal funds.

How Biola's plans align with the new federal directive remains to be seen.

“Biola is reviewing how this letter's requirements will affect the institution…” said university spokesperson Sarah Dougher. “Biola is still determining what exactly on campus will be affected.”

"There's a fine line between removing programs that are considered to be discriminatory by race and removing programs that speak to a cultural or ethnicity support for students," Cynthia Jackson Hammond, president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, told NPR in an interview last week.

How will top university leaders respond?

The California Department of Education and the State Board of Education issued a joint statement Friday saying that the law hasn't yet actually changed: "Executive orders and memos cannot modify or override statutory requirements or regulations or unilaterally impose new terms on existing agreements."

But they did suggest that colleges and universities "consult legal counsel regarding the impact of any potential federal actions."

Leaders of the University of California and California State University systems have not announced whether they will comply with or challenge the Trump administration directives. Together, those universities enroll more than 750,000 students.

“As this type of action is unprecedented, we are consulting with the California Attorney General and higher education partners across the country to better understand the statewide impact of this letter,” said CSU spokesperson Amy Bentley-Smith in an email.

In some instances, California State University’s top administrators have followed policy changes carried out by University of California leaders.

Though UC President Michael Drake said in a video message Thursday that the university's mission and values have not changed, UC leaders have not specified how they will respond to the Trump administration's directives.

“The Dear Colleague letter issued by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) provides guidance on the Department's interpretation of existing anti-discrimination laws and does not name any specific institution,” said UC spokesperson Omar Rodriguez.

“It indicates how OCR intends to enforce these legal requirements,” he said via email. He also noted that state law already restricts the use of race in college settings. “Given the UC’s compliance with Prop 209, we do not use race-based preferences in our practices.”

The stakes are high. How colleges and universities react to this order could shape generations to come.

“There's no other entity that is more influential in shaping American society and arguably the global society than the [U.S.] college and university,” said Eddie R. Cole, who researches the history of higher education at UCLA. “Nobody knows what to do and no one wants to do something preemptive."

Here's the full letter from the U.S. Department of Education

Topline:

The case: In September, the city settled a lawsuit brought forward by two brothers in their 70s who said they suffered serious injuries after an LAPD officer crashed into their car. Days before the $18 million settlement was reached, lawyers for the brothers said Feldstein Soto called an expert witness testifying for the plaintiffs and “attempted to ingratiate herself with him and asked him to make a contribution to her political campaign,” according to a sworn declaration to the court by the plaintiffs’ attorney, Robert Glassman.

The response: Feldstein Soto did not respond to an interview request. Her spokesperson said the settlement “had nothing to do” with the expert witness. Her campaign manager told LAist the city attorney had been making a routine fundraising call and did not know the person had a role in the case, nor that there were pending requests for her office to pay him fees.

What Jurado says: In a statement to LAist, Jurado said she wants to “make sure that the city’s legal leadership is guided by integrity and accountability, especially when their choices affect public trust, civic rights and the city’s limited resources."

What’s next: The motion needs to go through a few committees before reaching the full City Council. If it passes, the motion calls for the city attorney to “report to council in closed session within 45 days regarding the ethics breach violation and give updates to the City Council."

Every year in Santa Ana, Luis Cantabrana turns the front of his home into an elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe that draws hundreds of visitors.

Along the front of the house, the multi-colored altar is filled with lights, flowers and a stained-glass tapestry behind a sculpture of the Lady of Guadalupe. Cantabrana’s roof also is lit up with the green, white and red lights that spell out “Virgen de Guadalupe” and a cross.

Visitors are welcomed with music and the smell of roses as they celebrate the saint, but this year’s gathering comes after a dark year for immigrant communities.

Luis Cantabrana stands in front of the stunning altar he built in front of his home in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe. Every year, his display draws hundreds of visitors.

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Why do they celebrate? 

In 1513, the Virgin Mary appeared before St. Juan Diego between Dec. 9 and Dec. 12, asking him to build a church in her honor. Her image — a brown-skinned woman wearing a green veil with her hands together in prayer and an angel at her feet — miraculously appeared on his cloak.

To celebrate in Santa Ana, worshippers gathered late-night Wednesday and in the very early hours Dec. 12 to pray the rosary, sing hymns and celebrate the saint.

Cantabrana has hosted worshippers at his home for 27 years — 17 in Santa Ana.

The altar started out small, he said, and over the years, he added a fabric background, more lights and flowers (lots and lots of flowers).

“It started with me making a promise to la Virgen de Guadalupe that while I had life and a home to build an altar, that I would do it,” Cantabrana said. “Everything you see in photos and videos is pretty, but when you come and see it live, it's more than pretty. It's beautiful.”

The Santa Ana home's elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe draws hundreds of visitors each year.

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LAist

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Gathering in a time of turmoil 

Many also look to the Lady of Guadalupe for protection, especially at a time when federal enforcement has rattled immigrant communities.

“People don’t want to go to work, they don’t want to take their kids to school, but the love we have for our Virgen de Guadalupe,” Cantabrana said. “We see that la Virgen de Guadalupe has a lot of power, and so we know immigration [enforcement] won’t come here.”

Margarita Lopez of Garden Grove has been visiting the altar for three years with her husband. She’s been celebrating the Virgencita since she was a young girl. Honoring the saint is as important now as ever, she said.

“We ask, and she performs miracles,” Lopez said.

Claudia Tapia, a lifelong Santa Ana resident, said the Virgin Mary represents strength.

“Right now, with everything going on, a lot of our families [have] turned and prayed to the Virgen for strength during these times,” Tapia said. “She's a very strong symbol of Mexican culture, of unity, of faith and of resilience.”

See it for yourself

The shrine will stay up into the new year on the corner of Broadway and Camile Street.

California’s unemployment agency kept paying cellphone bills for 4 1/2 years without checking whether its workers actually were using the devices.

That’s how it racked up $4.6 million in fees for mobile devices its workers were not using, according to a new state audit detailing wasteful spending at several government agencies.

The Employment Development Department’s excessive cellphone bills date to the COVID-19 pandemic, when it shifted call center employees to remote work and faced pressure to release benefits to millions of suddenly unemployed Californians.

It acquired 7,224 cellphones and wireless hotspots by December 2020. State auditors analyzed 54 months of invoices since then and found half the devices were unused for at least two years, 25% were unused for three years and 99 of them were never used at all.

The investigation, which auditors opened after receiving a tip, identified 6,285 devices that were unused for at least four consecutive months, and said the department spent $4.6 million on monthly service fees for them.

From the beginning, the department had about 2,000 more cellphones than call center employees, according to the audit. The gap widened over time after the pandemic ended and the department’s staffing returned to its normal headcount.

As of April, the audit said the department had 1,787 unemployment call center employees, but was paying monthly service fees for 5,097 mobile devices.

“Although obtaining the mobile devices during COVID-19 may have been a good idea to serve the public, continuing to pay the monthly service fees for so many unused devices, especially post-COVID-19, was wasteful,” the audit said.

Department officials told auditors they were unaware of the spending, but auditors pointed to regular invoices from Verizon that showed which phones were not being used.

“We would have expected EDD management to have reconsidered the need to pay the monthly service fees for so many devices that had no voice, message, or data usage,” the audit said.

The unemployment department began acting on the auditors’ findings in April, when it canceled service plans for 2,825 devices. It has since implemented a policy to terminate service plans for devices that go unused for 90 days.

The California state auditor highlighted the mobile devices in its regular report on “improper activities by state agencies and employees.” The audit also showed that the California Air Resources Board overpaid an employee who was on extended leave as he prepared to retire by $171,000.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.