Race to be discarded from collegiate student lifestyle activities

CENTRAL COAST, Calif. (KION-TV) -- The Department of Education sent a "dear colleague" letter announcing a threat to federal funding over any academic institution that considers race in student admissions and other services.

Admissions, hiring, scholarships, discipline and a few other student lifestyle services are included in this change, according to the Department of Education.

They also says that it will begin assessing compliance no later than 14 days from when the letter was sent. Letters were initially dispatched to institutions on February 14.

"The dear colleague letter as written does not impact our student admissions at all," said Superintendent and Hartnell College President Michael Gutierrez. "We do not discriminate with our admissions policies, and we are an open enrollment institution, and that will continue to be the case in the future."

Gutierrez added that he is looking forward to receiving more clarification about the letter in the upcoming weeks.