Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), a member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, joined U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ranking Member of the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, and 10 of their Senate colleagues to urge U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins to immediately reinstate the Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) E. Kika De La Garza (EKDLG) Fellowship Program. The Trump Administration suspended the program, which the USDA established in 1998 to strengthen educational partnerships between faculty, staff, and administrators from HSIs and USDA. These partnerships support professional development, workforce development, and exposure opportunities for HSIs nationwide and provide critical insight and understanding of the federal government.
“USDA’s partnership with HSIs and Hispanic Serving Agricultural Colleges and Universities (HSACUs) plays a vital role in establishing a collaborative relationship and creating a nationwide network of educators working with USDA to help grow the next generation of the American agricultural workforce,” wrote Bennet, Padilla, Klobuchar, and the senators.
In their letter, the senators emphasized that the EKDLG Fellowship Program helps students reach their full potential and strengthens America’s agricultural workforce. The 2024 EKDLG Program included a fellowship at Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado. The program also included eight fellowships in Texas, six in Arizona, five in California, four in New York, two in Illinois, one in New Mexico, one in New Jersey, one in Florida, one in Connecticut, and one in Washington.
The senators further argued that Hispanic-Serving Institutions benefit the economy and empower communities. HSIs are non-profit postsecondary institutions with 25 percent or higher total undergraduate Hispanic or Latino full-time students. There are 600 HSIs in the United States that enroll over 5.2 million Hispanic students, two-thirds of all Hispanic undergraduates, and 32.2 percent of total Pell Grant recipients. Colorado has 13 colleges and universities that are designated as Hispanic-Serving Institutions.
“The Department’s decision to suspend EKDLG Fellowship Program threatens the U.S. agricultural workforce pipeline and the opportunities this program provides educators and students nationwide,” concluded the senators. “We urge you to immediately reinstate the E. Kika De La Garza Fellowship Program, similar to Department’s reinstatement of the 1890 National Scholars Program, and to collaborate with Congress to ensure its long-term stability.”
A former superintendent of Denver Public Schools, Bennet has consistently advocated to expand educational opportunities for Latino students. In September 2024, Bennet, alongside bipartisan colleagues, introduced a bicameral resolution to designate the week starting on September 9, 2024 as National Hispanic-Serving Institutions Week. In 2019, Bennet also wrote to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) calling for the immediate passage of the bipartisan FUTURE Act, which would reauthorize $255 million in mandatory federal funding for HSIs and other minority-serving institutions.
In addition to Bennet, Padilla, and Klobuchar, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) also signed the letter.
The text of the letter is available HERE and below.
Dear Secretary Rollins,
We write to express our significant concerns about the suspension of the USDA Hispanic-Serving (HSI) E. Kika De La Garza (EKDLG) Fellowship Program and to ask that you immediately reinstate it.
The EKDLG Fellowship Program was established in 1998 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the program has had consistent support from every presidential administration since its establishment. The program strengthens educational partnerships between faculty, staff, and administrators from HSIs and USDA.
The EKDLG Fellowship Program is non-partisan and supports increasing the professional development, workforce development, and exposure opportunities for faculty, staff, and students nationwide. USDA’s partnership with HSIs and Hispanic Serving Agricultural Colleges and Universities (HSACUs) plays a vital role in establishing a collaborative relationship and creating a nationwide network of educators working with USDA to help grow the next generation of the American agricultural workforce. These fellowships are open to faculty, staff, and administrators of all backgrounds that are employed at HSIs or Hispanic-Serving School Districts and students of all backgrounds are eligible to participate.
HSIs are economic engines and shape our nation’s agricultural workforce. In 2022, HSIs enrolled 5.2 million students, including 66% of all Hispanic undergraduate students and over 31% of all college students in non-profit postsecondary institutions in the country. Programs like the EKDLG Fellowship Program equip educators with the tools to help students reach their full potential and support the nation’s agricultural workforce pipeline. For example, the list of 2024 EKDLG participants shows the program’s nationwide impact:
1. University of Houston, Sugar Land, Texas
2. New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico
3. The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
4. Arizona Western College, Yuma, Arizona
5. Coastal Bend College, Beeville, Texas
6. Adams State University, Alamosa, Colorado
7. California State University, Chico, Chico, California
8. Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey
9. Texas A&M University, Kingsville, Texas
10. Mesa Community College, Mesa, Arizona
11. Hartnell College, Salinas, California
12. Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
13. City Colleges of Chicago, Harold Washington College, Chicago, Illinois
14. Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
15. Maricopa Community Colleges, Tempe, Arizona
16. University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
17. Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Grove, Illinois
18. Northern Arizona University, Yuma, Arizona
19. University of California, Santa Barbara, California
20. Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, California
21. University of Texas, San Antonio, Texas
22. CUNY New York City College of Technology, Brooklyn, New York
23. CUNY Hunter College, New York, New York
24. Florida International University, Miami, Florida
25. California State University, Fresno, California
26. Arizona State University, Mesa, Arizona
27. Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
28. The University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, Texas
29. Mt. Adams School District #209, White Swan, Washington
30. The Urban Assembly New York Harbor School, New York, New York
31. John Bowne High School, Flushing, New York
The Department’s decision to suspend EKDLG Fellowship Program threatens the U.S. agricultural workforce pipeline and the opportunities this program provides educators and students nationwide.
We urge you to immediately reinstate the E. Kika De La Garza Fellowship Program, similar to Department’s reinstatement of the 1890 National Scholars Program, and to collaborate with Congress to ensure its long-term stability.