The Maricopa County Community College District has adopted a policy change that removes programs and accommodation for minority students and staff, the LGBTQ community and other diversity groups to comply with the orders taken over by the Trump administration.

In an email sent to staff in February, Prime Minister Stephen Gonzalez specifically cited a letter sent by the Ministry of Education dictating that educational institutions should end policies or actions that “used race as a factor in admissions, financial aid, employment, training and other institutional programming.”

In response to the letter, the district has cancelled a convening ceremony for students in “diverse communities and special interest groups,” Gonzalez wrote in an email to students last week.

The community college held several groups of rituals last year, including African Americans, American Indians, Asia-Pacific Islands and Hispanic students, according to the district’s website.

Gonzalez said the changes corresponded to executive orders issued by President Donald Trump and guidance from the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Office.

“Based on the current situation, as a public body, we must comply with the law and enforcement guidance issued by the regulator,” Gonzalez said.

However, changes implemented by the district far exceed the “racial, color, or country of origin” guidance contained in the letter.

The district cancelled all special convened last year, including events for veterans, LGBTQ students, students with disabilities and fostering youth.

“So it’s a wide range of people who are actually affected under this order,” said Rep. Lorena Austin (D Mesa), Arizona’s first openly and non-binary lawmaker and former president of student organizations at Mesa Community College.

Austin said these types of changes are likely inevitable in places like the Maricopa County Community College District, the country’s largest community college district, after Trump issued a handful of executive orders attacking so-called “diversity, equity and inclusion programs” at government agencies and agencies that receive federal funds.

“When things aren’t shocking, when we saw this executive order really affect what we had predicted, I think it was still really shocking for a lot of people,” Austin said.

In an email to students and staff last week, Gonzales listed numerous changes to its long-standing policy, including e-mail signatures and removal of “gender identity-related languages” like pronouns from business cards. The district will also remove gender-neutral or omnisex bathrooms.

The district has also concluded its support for diversity advisory committees and “groups of employees concentrated in race, identity, or country of origin. This includes Equality Maricopa, an employee group within the district made up of employees identifying as LGBTQIA+ and its allies. Since 2021, Equality Maricopa has awarded scholarships to support LGBTQIA+ students.

“So these organizations and entities are there to provide opportunities for students that they wouldn’t otherwise get,” said Austin, who spoke at the Maricopa convened when he graduated in 2018.

Austin said recent changes in the district will not affect student groups, but students will be affected by the new policy.

“And while this group was a safe space for students to get the opportunities they had given them, they were just finding a sense of community,” Austin said. “So it’s devastating because it not only affects faculty and staff associations, it’s students who feel safe and go to those who work at our institutions.”

A spokesman for the Maricopa County Community College District said the district must comply with all local, state and federal laws, including directives from the Department of Education.

“In response to this guidance, the district was obliged to conduct an internal audit. …We recognize that these necessary changes could be unfortunate for some students and employees,” the spokesman said. “However, we remain committed to promoting a welcoming learning environment as all students pursue educational goals.”

The decision to cut the affected policies and programs was based on an array of executive orders issued by the Trump administration, as well as the Department of Education. Trump has issued two executive orders aimed at terminating federal funds for the DEI program, and another executive order that states that the federal government will recognize two genders.

“The convocation of cultural and special interests was carried out under the same guidelines and given the guidance we received, it was determined that it would not have to occur this year,” the spokesman said. “But that will not affect our university’s major launch ceremony.”

Gonzalez wrote that failure to comply with federal guidance could put the district’s federal funds and federal financial aid at risk, reflecting the threat posed in a February 14 letter from the Department of Education. Last year, the district budget said it received approximately $21 million in federal grants and more than $112 million in student financial aid from a $1.7 billion budget.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to clarify Rep. Lorena Austin’s previous position at Mesa Community College.