Dear Colleagues, It was great to see many of you last week! I’m sharing the New England Council’s Higher Education News brief, below, regarding speculation about the Department of Education. Several people requested a link to the JFK Library Forum featuring Heather Cox Richardson, so that, too, is below. Best, Sarah From the New England Council: Speculation about Education Secretary Amid Trump Vow to Eliminate Department — New doubts over the future of the Education of Department have started to emerge following the election of Donald Trump, who vowed to “close” the department during his presidential campaign. While doing so would require an unlikely 60-vote threshold from the senate that could be an obstacle for Trump’s plans, the new elect president must first choose the Secretary of the Department of Education. The new candidate could be looking at eliminating the same department that they would be appointed to work for. Candidates considered to be on the short list include Ryan Walters and Cade Brumley, the state superintendents of Oklahoma and Louisiana, respectively; Tiffany Justice, the co-founder of Moms for Liberty; and Christopher Rufo, a board member at New College of Florida and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. Previous secretary of education under Donald Trump, Betsy DeVos, claimed that an ideal candidate would be a current or former governor who has led in their state on education reform issues. DeVos herself could also be considered for the position along with other likely candidates, Representative Virginia Foxx, a North Carolina Republican and chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce; Mitch Daniels, president emeritus of Purdue University and former governor of Indiana; and Florida and Virginia governors Ron DeSantis and Glenn Youngkin. During his 2016 election cycle, Donald Trump announced DeVos’ nomination on November 23rd. This year, a similar timeline might be expected but the date and time of Trump’s announcement is still unknown. Additional information can be found here<https://lyi4jwdab.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001V4DAOxQgTRrKFD36UyPd1rbhZZF5mQ82a8rqoE9h3R_DCVe0c__M49IN43Y7N0uy0ZkBcy1MOeaRa8-aOTjcCbBqKE3LsRGRev8EWa8iN9N6niLfBqeRQaazgFCxcS5TeCYDBVQMR5QOzYnzXpdvdvLura_C3khxtVDrn4BIgkitb7hHcmiUtfBJN-jf2d61FAdw3ICvVILO-2E7lJI-hkjeoJSlWIhO-DR3uVcwVzclK8acQKlOlKKqRdLbJ01FemFUE1CjamWHAlu3LJqYZ5sWNnn0VjAEu0jiOGW9AEUumnWBlw8JuQ==&c=tMnoAJ4rUGEaQ4wnRGphcbd3ywa5gDVO7d5h3ir9kTgsh1ZsJTTmeg==&ch=_hA0vwourvLq9uQZ0NQb8_BBRr34eIu9IYDIK_Bfu28V8L6T1GBLJw==>. From the JFK Presidential Library and Museum: Thank you for your interest in this week’s "Interpreting the 2024 Elections" Kennedy Library Forum. We were delighted to welcome so many viewers to this program, and are pleased to share this recording of the discussion (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9Kof1Kiv_Y) for those who were not able to join earlier this week.