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When I graduated from Colorado State University with my undergraduate degree, I was honored to be named an Outstanding Graduate, and I was also nominated and then selected to deliver the Senior Address at my commencement ceremony. These recognitions, I believe, were largely due to my perseverance through immense hardship, having demonstrated that I was able to withstand a lot of suffering and hardship without giving up while staying committed to earning my degree and still managing to stay involved with student government and multiple extracurriculars.
But those accolades omit a crucial truth: I would not be where I am today — now back at CSU pursuing my master’s degree — without the support of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, Cultural Resource Centers and my academic adviser. More specifically, I would not have made it without the unwavering support of the Native American Cultural Center and the community it fostered for me.
As an undergraduate student studying both wildlife biology and ethnic studies, I worked two to three jobs at any given time while also donating plasma just to afford basic necessities. Despite being terrified of having my blood drawn and being hooked up to machines on a weekly basis, I would endure the torture of having blood drawn out and then pumped back into me for 45- to 60-minute sessions.
And still, I often struggled to pay rent and buy food. It was NACC that helped me secure a free meal plan so I wouldn’t go hungry, connected me with resources to cover my bills and advocated for me when I had nowhere else to turn. The sense of belonging and mutual care they cultivated was what kept me going.
When I was the victim of a hit-and-run while riding my bicycle — left injured, with mounting medical bills, a lengthy recovery and with the person responsible never identified — it was the NACC community that surrounded me with support. They fundraised to help cover my recovery costs and made sure I wasn’t left to navigate that trauma alone. Their impact was not just academic; it was deeply personal. Without them, I may not have completed my degree. This is what DEI programs and Cultural Resource Centers do: They save lives. They ensure that students, especially those without financial safety nets, can achieve their goals despite the systemic and personal hardships they face.
These programs are not just for students of color; they provide critical support for first-generation college students, those from low-income and working-class backgrounds, those who lived through the foster-care system, veterans, nontraditional students, people with disabilities and survivors of sexual violence. The breadth of communities served by DEI initiatives is vast, and their benefits are undeniable.
Now these essential programs are under direct attack. Donald Trump has openly threatened to defund universities that invest in DEI and student support services. He is already stripping funding from research that references climate change, climate resilience, Indigenous communities and women. Yes, literally even the word “women” is being censored, just to name a few of the words on that list — an exhaustive one that has already begun affecting researchers at CSU and all across the nation.
My own adviser received an official letter from the Trump administration outlining prohibited research areas and projects in my lab that have already lost federal funding. The reach of these cuts extends far beyond DEI. It is a calculated assault on academic freedom and scientific progress, as much university and academic research is funded by federal grants through the National Science Foundation.
What makes this moment even more heartbreaking is that I, along with many others, have spent years fighting to secure and expand funding for these very programs. As an undergraduate, I worked within ASCSU and the President’s Multicultural Student Advisory Council to advocate for DEI initiatives, increase funding for essential student services and even work to increase funding so we could improve and expand public transit throughout the entire City of Fort Collins through a partnership with the Fort Collins City Council. Some battles were lost, but many were won — until now. Seeing the programs we fought so hard to protect come under threat is devastating.
CSU has a choice: Our administration can bow to political pressure and gut the programs that keep so many students afloat, or it can stand firm in its commitment to equity, academic integrity and student success. I urge CSU leadership not to bend to Trump’s tyranny but fight alongside us to demonstrate, unequivocally, that they care about the students and researchers who make this university what it is.
The resistance is not over; the fight continues, and I hope CSU will prove that it is willing to stand on the right side of history.
Griselda Landa-Posas, graduate student at Colorado State University
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