When Wanda Hunter began taking classes at Las Positas College in 2008, she was a nursing major who said she received little support as a Black woman on campus, and she said the lack of diversity made her uncomfortable.
“It was like you stuck out like a sore thumb,” Hunter said. “ I didn’t think it was a school or a place for Black women.”
In addition, Hunter said a negative experience with a professor shaped her experience at LPC. After reading Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston’s autobiographical memoir, “Farewell to Manzanar” in an English class, Hunter said she was met with pushback after comparing the author’s experience to the Transatlantic slave trade. This, coupled with family and health issues, lead her to take a break from her studies before returning. She said that she felt “alienated” from other Black students on campus.
Hunter’s past experience is a far cry from the support she feels now. According to her, the culture has completely shifted as the campus has become more accepting in the past few years. She said she’s appreciative of the Black Cultural Resource Center (BCRC) — which is advertised as a safe haven for Black students on campus— and the resources it provides to students.
Francesca Richmond-Buccola expressed similar sentiments regarding the BCRC. She recalled how supported she felt from its staff and her peers, noting an instance where they allowed her to practice a class presentation for a final exam and encouraged her through it.
“Since day one, they made it very clear that we had the BCRC,” Richmond-Buccola said. “That was really awesome, you know, being able to form that kind of community and feeling that kind of support.”
Now, cultural service centers like the BCRC are on the chopping block in a long list of federal initiatives meant to limit diversity in higher education institutions across the nation. On Feb. 14, 2025, Craig Trainor, the acting assistant secretary for civil rights, published a letter outlining his interpretation of the 2023 Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. The landmark decision ruled that race-based affirmative action in college admissions violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. The letter criticized diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at institutions and workplaces nationwide.
“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,” Trainor wrote. “Proponents of these discriminatory practices have attempted to further justify them—particularly during the last four years—under the banner of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (“DEI”).”
Hunter, who is in her last semester at LPC and has plans to transfer to California State University, East Bay, said she worries about the impact the Trump Administration will have on minority student groups in the wake of anti-DEI initiatives. Since his inauguration, President Trump has led a campaign against diversity initiatives at institutions and colleges, instructing colleges to comply or risk losing federal funding. Richmond-Buccola said that cultural and disability support centers were important, and it was unfortunate that they were “jeopardized” in any way. In a statement from Feb. 18, 2025, the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District announced that it “will continue to comply with all applicable federal and state laws while upholding our values of equity and inclusion.”
Ethnic Studies Professor Felipe Ponce had similar views to Hunter, stating that the attacks on people of color, specifically Black and Latino individuals, were “nothing new.” He noted the numerous instances workers for the Freedmen’s Bureau— a former federal agency that provided basic necessities, including education, to formerly enslaved people— were assaulted, harassed or even killed for attempting to help people.
“Our history as a nation is not pretty, and it seems we have taken some huge steps backwards in the past 10-15 years,” Ponce said.
Ponce said he believes it’s important that institutions continue to teach ethnic studies in the classroom. He also noted that Black community college students are less likely to graduate and transfer in comparison to other ethnic groups, and this is a large reason why diversity amongst peers and educators is important. For context, nearly two-thirds of Black Californians start their higher education in the California Community College system, but only 3% transfer within two years and 35% within six years, according to Inside Higher Ed. In the 2024-23 school year, only 3% of students that received an Associates Degree were Black. Although Ponce said LPC has a “strong leadership with mostly people of color,” he said actions like increasing the number of Black and Brown professors or offering more “culturally relevant” coursework could increase retention and transfer rates at community colleges statewide. Services like specified counseling, support and tutoring can make a large impact on the education of Black students, according to Ponce.
Dorian Sanchez, a former LPC student and recent graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, expressed the importance of the BCRC in his education, while noting the disappointment at Trump’s efforts to cut similar programs nationwide.
“I never really (saw) other Black people on campus,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez, who attended LPC from 2021-23, said that being a Black person on campus was isolating.
“I think it’s hard as a Black person in higher education to (sort of) find people where you can be genuinely who you are,” Sanchez said. “The attack on DEI is really an attack on those things that, in my experience, have been the best at bringing that sense of community for the marginalized (communities).”
However, Sanchez said that his experience at the University of California, Santa Barbara was vastly different from that of LPC, despite the support he received from programs such as the BCRC.
“Now that I have a better frame of reference at UC Santa Barbara, it felt like it wasn’t very conducive to a strong community,” Sanchez said. “But it was nice, like, having UMOJA and those kinds of things that would kind of just let you know, reach out and tell you that there were opportunities.
Students expressed their concern for the next 4 years under Trump’s Administration, noting uncertainties in higher education.
“With him in office, it’s almost like we’re starting back at zero, like a negative,” Hunter said. “It just feels like he didn’t (just) push a reset, he, like, knocked everything over that was being built and formed.”
Ponce said that despite his worries, he felt it important to remain hopeful about the state of the country.
“I have to stay hopeful. If we did not have hope, we might as well wave the white flag and I am unwilling to do that as I want a brighter future for my kids, our communities and the scholars I work with,” Ponce said. “I know we can make change through a righteous education, the building of knowledge, the building of solidarity, making allyships, and spreading the word.”
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TOP PHOTO: Black Cultural Resource Center Coordinator Savannah Richardson serves up plates for students in the BCRC May 21. Students and faculty were able to come get food during the end of semester celebration. (Photo by Ian Kapsalis/The Express)
Raina Dent is a Staff Writer for The Express. Follow her on X, formally Twitter, @_rainasafiya
