At the heart of Houston’s International District is the Alief- Bissonnet campus. A small, intimate campus where students from all over the globe come to learn the trades of construction, HVAC, and even cosmetology. A campus once so brimming with diversity that it held an event to celebrate the cultural heritages of its student body and recognize the shared traditions and activities humans from around the world engage in, like music and art.

But today, the campus feels empty; devoid of its brimming diversity and celebration of cultures that once made it so unique from all the other campuses at HCC.

On April 29, 2025, the Bissonnet campus hosted the inaugural and only “Voices from Around the World” event. Organized by Alief-Bissonnet’s Continuing Education (CE) Intensive English Program in collaboration with campus management, the event provided English-Second language (ESL) students with an opportunity to engage with and explore world cultures. Attendees enjoyed various activities, including live music, talent showcases, Mardi Gras-style parades, and tasting food from different countries, among other attractions.

On the April 28, 2025, edition of HCCTV’s “Up to the Minute”, CE English Language Skills Faculty Lisa Devoe and Mercedes Wilson-Everett appeared to discuss the event in more detail. They spoke about using the event to help ESL students improve their self-esteem and tying everything back to the classroom setting.

“We’re taking it to the real world,” said Devoe. “We’re using the students in real-world instances. They’re doing performances, playing instruments, [and listening] to songs that are going to inspire them.”

Everett added by explaining the importance of working with campus management to organize the event, referencing the Ubuntu African quote, “they are because we are.”

“It takes a village to take care of the students. We are all working together,” said Everett. Both women then went on to explain how the event would allow ESL students the space and time to share their talents and provide them a sense of belonging.

“A caring campus,” as described by Devoe. One that wanted to use “Voices from Around the World” to show how much it cared about the diversity of its student body. Yet despite the event being a huge success with students who participated last year, the hopes and plans for a second one this year were shattered after a long, lengthy attempt to get funding from the school was denied.

A source close to the situation revealed that the denial was influenced by HCC’s legal department, which expressed concerns over the “cultural aspects” of the event.

An online funding proposal for another “Voices from Around the World” event sent to the College Activities Board last October and obtained by the Egalitarian mentioned the word “culture” 11 times.

This comes at a time when colleges and universities are scaling back their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices and programs following President Trump’s signing of executive orders aimed at dismantling DEI initiatives in higher education.

The Egalitarian reached out to a representative from the HCC Student Services department, who relayed the information about the denial of funding to the organizers of “Voices from Around the World” two months after the proposal was sent to the College Activity Board, according to a source familiar with the situation.

As of now, there is no word on whether “Voices from Around the World” will return to Alief-Bissonnet.