FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 18, 2025

HACU responds to Department of Education’s Dear Colleague letter

SAN ANTONIO – The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities has issued a letter commenting on Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights of U.S. Department of Education’s “Dear Colleague” letter of February 14, 2025, issuing across the board guidance to institutions. To read the HACU letter, click here.

In the letter, HACU calls for Acting Assistant Secretary Trainor to rescind his letter and preserve funding for Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), which ensures every student has access to the support and tools that ensures the nation’s standing as a global leader. Investments in technology, labs, faculty development, student support, community outreach and more, improve institutional capacity and transform education for all students regardless of race, color, or national origin. These programs have standing due to the precise application of law that has been in place for six decades. HSIs are authorized and funded under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, fully complying with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution.

There is also concern at the potential federal overreach into the academic and extracurricular autonomy of independent institutions and the states in which they operate, with the response stating, “Education is not a federal jurisdiction under the U.S. Constitution but a state right.” The Dear Colleague letter has an ideological perspective with problematic overtones that is a disservice to the leaders, faculty, staff and students of colleges and universities that serve the communities they reside in, and they should be allowed to create and implement programming that is relevant to, and supportive of, those communities.

HACU has reached out to the Acting Assistant Secretary and the incoming U.S. Secretary of Education to discuss the guidance issued in the letter. HACU is urging members, allies and partners to take action and mobilize to urge the rescinding of the letter and the preservation of HSI funding.

About HACU
The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, founded in 1986, represents more than 500 colleges and universities in the United States, Latin America, Spain and school districts throughout the U.S. HACU programs and services are available to all students, faculty, and staff at HACU-member institutions. The Association’s headquarters is in San Antonio, Texas, with offices in Washington, D.C, Sacramento, California, and Chicago, Illinois.

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