On Aug. 22, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it will not defend the federal Hispanic-Serving Institution program against a lawsuit filed in June 2025. The lawsuit argues that such grants, which support colleges and universities serving large numbers of Hispanic students, are unconstitutional.
The department’s silence sends a chilling message: One of the most effective equity programs in higher education is now vulnerable.
For California, and for communities like South County, the stakes could not be higher.
My parents never graduated from high school. Neither did I, until community college opened the door to higher education. Community college was not my fallback; it was the only pathway to higher education. It is similarly the pathway for tens of thousands of South County residents whose dreams are no less ambitious than any others in California, but whose opportunities have too often been constrained by underinvestment and inequity.
On Aug. 22, during Southwestern College’s Opening Day Convocation, keynote speaker Russell Lehmann offered a line of Buddhist wisdom: “Those who know how to suffer, will suffer less.” His remarks came under the theme “Learning without Limits: Ensuring a Culture of Access for All,” commemorating the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The words resonated because South County is familiar with systemic suffering due to disinvestment and lack of access to economic and higher education opportunities. This familiarity has built resilience, but resilience without resources is not enough. Resilience alone does not create opportunity.
That is why Hispanic-Serving Institution funding matters.
Hispanic-Serving Institution status is not preferential treatment or discrimination. It is about recognizing institutions that serve at least 25% Hispanic students and providing those institutions access to federal support for student success.
California leads the nation with 174 Hispanic-Serving Institutions, most of them community colleges. Since 1995, California institutions have received more than $600 million in Hispanic-Serving Institution funding, supporting programs in STEM, first-generation student support, transfer readiness and workforce development.
These investments ripple far beyond campus. Community colleges educate 70% of California’s nurses and 80% of its first responders. They fuel most middle-skill jobs that power California’s economy, the fourth largest in the world.
In San Diego, the binational mega-region generates $250 billion in gross domestic product, relying on a bilingual workforce prepared through community colleges.
Southwestern College has taken this responsibility seriously. Through the University Now Initiative, we convened business, education and government leaders, and authored a white paper for baccalaureate expansion.
Partnering with the San Diego Regional Policy and Innovation Center, we released a Workforce and Academic Needs Assessment Research Report projecting 20,000 new jobs in South County and billions in impact from higher education expansion. A member of the University Now Initiative committee, the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp., has documented through its Inclusive Growth Initiative how health care, green energy and technology sectors will stall without stronger education-to-career pipelines.
Hispanic-Serving Institution funding is an investment. An investment in equity, in opportunity and in California’s competitiveness. The Department of Justice may have stepped back. California cannot.
South County has endured systemic suffering with resilience. But resilience is not enough. What our communities need, and what our students deserve, are resources. If Washington will not defend Hispanic-Serving Institutions, then California must.
Encarnacion, Ed.D., is the chief of staff at Southwestern Community College District. She lives in Chula Vista.
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