President Donald Trump’s Fiscal Year 2026 Discretionary Budget Request was released May 2, 2025, and De Anza was indirectly cited as justification for reducing federal funding for institutions of higher education by a suggested $121 million dollars.
Russel Vought, director of the United States Office of Management and Budget, stated in the preface to the budget proposal that it aims to cut funding to “niche non-governmental organizations and institutions of higher education committed to radical gender and climate ideologies antithetical to the American way of life.”
De Anza is indirectly referenced under the “Strengthening Institutions” program on page 9 of the 46-page proposal. The program’s description argues that college finances and student outcomes are not the responsibility of the federal government, and further criticizes the use of federal funds for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
“It is not the responsibility of Federal taxpayers to support a new ‘Guided Pathways Village, expanding the current Learning Communities and creating a new Ethnic and Pride Inclusion Center for historically underserved students, including LGBTQ+ students,’” the budget proposal read, detailing programs to cut.
The program name and description was matched to a 2021 press release for a $2.25 million federal grant awarded to De Anza for the Guided Pathways Village by CalMatters.
According to the grant application, the goal of the “Strengthening Institutions” grant was to help minority and gender-diverse students feel welcome at De Anza, with the goal of increasing student success and retention.
Lydia Hearn, interim associate vice president of Instruction, helped develop the De Anza grant application quoted in Trump’s budget proposal. Hearn declined to comment.
The proposal aimed to address inequities faced by minority student groups on campus and to help pay for a Pride Center director and counselor, as well as a Villages co-coordinator, internship developer and peer mentors to help provide increased student services.
It’s unclear how these proposed cuts in funding could potentially affect student services aimed at promoting inclusivity, such as the Pride Center. Jamie Pelusi, director of the Pride Center, said that “the center’s funding has not been impacted as of now and is running as usual.”
“I’ve met so many students from different underserved backgrounds that must rely on the resources our government provides to get a higher education,” said Sabrina Moore, 18, political science and economics major. “I would really like to see America encourage diversity within all aspects of our country, including the educational system. We’re meant to be a melting pot, not oil and water.”
Trump’s Fiscal Year 2026 Discretionary Budget Request is a proposal that the president is required by law to make each year. The proposal aims to cut a total of $163 billion in domestic spending in the federal budget, which would drastically reduce federal spending on things such as medical and scientific research, housing and education, some by tens of billions of dollars.
This proposal is described more as a “presidential wish list” and does not mean that these cuts will definitely occur, yet it serves as an indication as to where the administration places its priorities.
