The Asian American Resource Office, among other initiatives, faces closure and budget cuts due to a lack of federal funding, according to a Sept. 16 town hall meeting.
“The office will still be open for drop-ins,” AARO’s Associate Director Karen Chi said, but they anticipate a less-stocked refreshment cabinet, fewer team outings and the end of the peer mentor program.
AARO, which has served the Asian American and Pacific Islander community since 2011, exists through UMass Boston’s designation as an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution. In 2023, UMass Boston received a fifth round of federal grant renewal in collaboration with Bunker Hill Community College. The partnership created a “culturally sustaining transfer pathway” designed to make higher education more accessible for first-generation and low-income students, according to the UMass Boston website.
However, the $2.5 million aid pledged to be distributed over five years has ended abruptly.
The Department of Education announced Sept. 10 that it would discontinue federal funding for hundreds of minority-serving institutions. The decision removed $350 million from seven major cultural programs, including those supporting hispanic-serving Institutions, predominantly Black institutions, and colleges serving Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander students. The DOE on its website said that the programs “discriminate by conferring government benefits exclusively to institutions that meet racial or ethnic quotas” and said the money would be redirected toward “administrative priorities.”
Among the affected initiatives is Jumpstart, an early education program for children ages three to five in underserved and marginalized communities. In April, they closed college branches at UMass Boston, Boston University and Emerson College. With 58% of the student body identifying as BIPOC, UMass Boston’s Jumpstart program seeks to bridge the gap for children seeking mentors who share their backgrounds and identities, but the recent funding cuts threaten to end these efforts with no warning.
“I’m unsure whether the children — especially those who’ve been with Jumpstart for years — fully understand what’s happening,” wrote Alondra Hernandez-Cruz, the community engagement coordinator for Jumpstart at Boston University.
Jumpstart not only nurtures children’s growth but also supports college students themselves. Site Manager Kerry Fargnoli explained that the program helps students pay for school, build skills essential for the workplace and give back to their community in a meaningful way.
“That, to me, is the biggest loss,” Fargnoli stated.
Another initiative at risk, TRIO, is a college-success program that has served low-income and first-generation students for more than 60 years, reaching over 870,000 participants nationwide. With more than 53% of newly enrolled students being the first in their family to attend college and 51% qualifying for Pell Grants, UMass Boston resonates deeply with TRIO’s mission, hosting three of its programs — Talent Search, Student Support Services, and Upward Bound.
Out of these three programs, the Student Support Services works closely with UMass Boston students, providing year-round academic support and resources. Each year, the program enrolls more than 500 Pell-eligible and first-generation scholars. A 2019 study found that SSS alumni were 47 percent more likely to earn an associate’s degree or transfer, and 18 percent more likely to complete a bachelor’s degree than peers from similar backgrounds who did not participate in the program.
However, their mission to mitigate generational poverty and foster upward mobility faces an uncertain future as federal support dwindles. In May, the government halted over $1.6 million in preapproved funding to TRIO programs — two days before the funding cycle starts. The termination letter said the programs violated “the Administration’s guidelines relating to DEI” but did not make clear which specific language of the grant statement was inappropriate.
The abrupt notice left university administrators scrambling to make ends meet. Chae E. Sweet, the provost at Montgomery County Community College, said the canceled grants had supported three employees who will lose their jobs by the end of the month.
In the week following the DOE announcement, the federal administration pledged to direct $495 million in funds to historically Black colleges and universities and tribal colleges, on top of their existing 2025 fiscal allocations. This move on its own increased the institutions’ budgets by 48.4% and 109.3% respectively. While some welcomed the new investment in historically underfunded institutions, others raised concerns about its implications.
“[The Education Department is] trying to pit different types of minority-serving institutions against each other,” said Marybeth Gasman, executive director of the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions. “And that is really, really troubling…I hope people don’t fall for that.”
Other federally funded community programs have also faced reductions. Earlier this year, AmeriCorps — the federal agency for national service and volunteerism — almost lost more than 41% of its budget, or $400 million in grants, forcing programs to let go of 32,000 volunteers and staff.
While many community partners are caught between compliance and fracture, a local nonprofit refused to remain passive. 826 Boston, which provides free writing and tutoring services to more than 3,700 students at its Roxbury headquarters and six Boston Public Schools, was given five days to eliminate its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs or forfeit federal funding. In a unanimous vote, their executive board decided to withdraw their application for $250,000 in federal funding. New Commonwealth Fund, a philanthropic group led by Black and Latino leaders in Roxbury, promptly awarded $75,000 to 826 Boston.
“I’m hugely both impressed and also in awe,” New Commonwealth Fund President Makeeba McCreary said. “Really kudos to his board and to him for having that kind of courage to say ‘we’re going to find another way, we don’t ever have to succumb to checking a box that we don’t believe in.’”
