Columbus – The overwhelming concern for the state of higher education under a Trump administration led the 
ASHE attendees were charged with focusing on the public benefits, purposes, and obligations of higher education and the ways those benefits manifest in the context of 21st century education systems. Potential cabinet positions Trump may appoint include campaign surrogates Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, Chris Christie, and, for the U.S. Department of Education, Ben Carson. Questions of uncertainty dominated conversations as to where higher education is headed under a Trump administration as the conference began the day after the presidential election.
In a session dedicated to post-election reactions New York University associate professor of higher education Dr. Stella Flores reminded education researchers the importance of empirical evidence. “We still have the role of producing evidence and cannot let go of that, especially now. The winning campaign lacked evidence to support his position on policies he hopes to put forth.”
Regarding the positions of President-elect Trump on immigration reform, charter schools, and divisive rhetoric just to name a few, ASHE attendees expressed their concerns. “We have to consider potential implications of race relations, college access, student success dollars for underserved populations and the possibility of making higher education institutions mirror charter schools in our K-12 systems. Researchers that only study higher education now need to be K-16 researchers,” said Flores.
Questions of who may head the U.S. Department of Education and whether it may be dismantled altogether were also raised. “Considering the Department of Education is responsible for $1.3 trillion, the department won’t be dissolved,” said American Council on Education Government Relations director Jon Fansmith.
Scholars also expressed fear of what will happen to education in the wake of a Republican-controlled House and Senate and a Trump-nominated U.S. Supreme Court Justice. “As a scholar, its motivation and a reminder that my work is critical. If public policy has previously been known for making detrimental decisions adversely impacting people of color, I fear for what’s to come,” said University of Southern California doctoral researcher Eric Felix.
The nature of how research is conducted on policies that shape the experiences of undocumented (DACA) students will be more important now more than ever with the forthcoming administration, according to Leadership Studies assistant professor at the University of San Francisco Genevieve Negrón-Gonzales. “Growing up in illegality as undocumented students shapes their relationships with institutions and shapes their fear. In a politically hostile climate, methodological approaches haven’t caught up so we as researchers need to be more thoughtful about this work.”
