WHEREAS, California is home to approximately one million individuals reporting Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) ancestry, with over 112,000 individuals in San Diego County, including 28,000 in East County [2][3][4] and in the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District, 3,275 students (16% of the total student population) reported Middle Eastern race/ethnicity [5]; however, all of these numbers are undercounted due to delayed and inconsistent data collection standards, for instance, the California Community College system only began offering a “Middle Eastern” race/ethnicity category in 2018, and this category rolls into “White”; furthermore, it omits nearly 20 race/ethnicity subcategories such as Kurdish, Algerian, Afghan, and Sudanese [6];
WHEREAS, The aggregation of MENA students into the “White” category renders invisible the significant disparities that MENA students experience in retention, graduation rates, access to scholarships, health outcomes, and translation services [7], and without accurate data, educational institutions cannot identify the challenges faced by MENA students or provide the resources needed to support their success and wellbeing; thus inaccurately grouping the MENA categories into other race and ethnicity groups overinflates and misrepresents their population sizes, which results in an uneven distribution of resources;
WHEREAS, Institutions across the country and state have taken steps to disaggregate data with multiple states (Illinois, New York, Nevada, New Jersey, and Colorado––with Michigan slated to join them), counties (San Diego County, San Francisco County, and Orange County), cities (Glendale, Anaheim, Bell and San Francisco), and school districts (San Diego Unified School District, San Francisco Unified School District, and Glendale Unified School District) passing resolutions recognizing MENA as a distinct race/ethnicity category separate from the White category [8][9][10][11]; and
WHEREAS, California Assembly Bill 91 (The MENA Inclusion Act) will establish a distinct MENA category in state demographic data systems [12]. AB 91 unanimously passed all State Assembly and Senate committee hearings and floor votes, and was signed into law by Governor Newsom on October 6th, 2025, which demonstrates that accurate MENA data collection is a critical and worthwhile investment. This bill has garnered support from more than 200 organizations, cities, counties, agencies, and elected officials across California; furthermore, this legislation is led by the State’s largest and only MENA-led, MENA-serving, MENA-constituency based membership organizations [11]. The collection of detailed, disaggregated daAta will provide numerous benefits for MENA communities, by empowering state institutions and community organizations: to promote health equity by tracking disparities and ensuring culturally responsive care; to build economic resilience and efficiency by increasing access to programs and services supporting MENA-owned businesses; and to strengthen civil rights and democracy through the proper documentation and classification of racial profiling, discrimination, and voter suppression [7].
RESOLVED, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges work with the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges and the Chancellor’s Office to adopt and promote the race/ethnicity classifications of AB 91 (2025, Harbedian), ensuring recognition of major national and transnational groups in the Middle East/Southwest Asia and North Africa, separate and distinct from the “White” category, including but not limited to Afghan, Algerian, Amazigh or Berber, Armenian, Assyrian, Bahraini, Chaldean, Circassian, Djiboutian, Egyptian, Emirati, Iranian, Iraqi, Israeli, Jordanian, Kurdish, Kuwaiti, Lebanese, Libyan, Mauritanian, Moroccan, Omani, Palestinian, Qatari, Saudi Arabian, Somali, Sudanese, Syrian, Tunisian, Turkish, and Yemeni;
RESOLVED, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges work with the Chancellor’s Office and student body associations to encourage their respective colleges to implement these MENA race/ethnicity categories in all forms of demographic documentation, including but not limited to Human Resources forms, applications for admission, student records, and institutional surveys;
RESOLVED, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges work with the Chancellor’s Office and student body associations to encourage California community colleges their respective colleges to publish disaggregated reports on MENA student enrollment, retention, graduation, and health outcomes to ensure transparency and equitable distribution of resources; and
RESOLVED, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges work with the Chancellor’s Office and student body associations to support the creation of MENA-focused scholarships, student leadership programs, and engagement initiatives, ensuring that students of MENA ancestry are represented and supported in higher education.
Citations:
[1] El Houri, W. (2024). From MENA to WANA: Why terminologies matter. Global Voices. https://globalvoices.org/2024/09/11/from-mena-to-wana-why-terminologies…
[2] U.S. Census Bureau. (2020). Decennial Census Data: T01001. https://data.census.gov/table/DECENNIALDDHCA2020.T01001?q=T01001:+TOTAL…
[3] U.S. Census Bureau. (2023). 5-Year American Community Survey Data: B04006. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT1Y2023.B04006?t=Ancestry&g=040XX00US…
[4] County of San Diego, Health and Human Services Agency. (2025). 2023 San Diego County Middle Eastern and North African Population by Ancestry and Place of Birth. https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/dam/sdc/hhsa/programs/phs/CHS/20… Profiles_FINAL.pdf
[5] GCCCD Research & Planning Department. (2025). Unduplicated Headcount. https://www.gcccd.edu/research-planning/kpi/sections/section-2/unduplic…
[6] California Community Colleges, Technology Center. (2018). 2018-18R: New Race & Ethnicity Implementation. https://cccnext.jira.com/wiki/spaces/PD/pages/731381767/2018-18R+New+Ra… ementation+2018
[7] Race Counts. (2025). Southwest Asian / North African. https://www.racecounts.org/state_races/california/?race=southwest%20asi…
[8] The Leadership Conference Education Fund. (2023). Disaggregation Nation: A Landscape Review of State Race & Ethnicity Data Collection. https://civilrights.org/edfund/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Disag…
[9] San Diego County Board of Supervisors. (2024). Adoption Of A New Population Category For San Diegans Of Middle Eastern And North African Descent. https://www.supervisorjoelanderson.com/content/dam/d2/docs/board-letter… f%20a%20New%20Population%20Category%20for%20San%20Diegans%20of%20Middle%20E astern%20and%20North%20African%20Descent.pdf
[10] Diego Unified School District Board of Education. (2024). Resolution: In The Matter Of Recognition Of Middle Eastern Or North African (Mena) Students And Families. https://sandiegounified.diligent.community/document/73baae15-f918-4615-…
[11] CA MENA Civil Rights Coalition. (2025). Count MENA In California (see endorsements at bottom of page). https://www.countmenainca.org/
[12] California Legislative Information. (2025). Bill Text - AB-91 State and local agencies: demographic data. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=2…