If you ask what the recent appointment of Betsy DeVos as U.S. Secretary of Education means for higher education, a common refrain — even among education policy and advocacy leaders — is that it’s too early to say.
“Given DeVos’ sparse record on postsecondary issues, we don’t know many specifics about what her appointment holds for issues such as access and diversity in higher ed,” said Dr. Michelle Asha Cooper, president of the Institute for Higher Education Policy, of Washington, D.C.
“We’re all reading the tea leaves and it’s just much too early to tell,” agreed Terry Hartle, senior vice president for government and public affairs at the American Council on Education, which represents the nation’s colleges and universities.
But not everyone is convinced that it’s too early to figure out where DeVos — 58, a staunch school-choice advocate, four-time chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party, investment firm chairwoman and wife of billionaire entrepreneur and Amway heir Dick DeVos — is headed once she takes the helm at the U.S. Department of Education.
Dr. Kevin Kumashiro, dean of the School of Education at the University of San Francisco, says that, despite the fact that many claim “we know very little about what DeVos has done in the field of higher education, or what to expect,” there are enough clues to suggest otherwise.
“I believe there’s much we can say about her track record on issues of diversity, particularly the causes that she has financially supported and the organizations for which she has served on boards,” Kumashiro told Diverse.
“For instance, she chairs the Philanthropy Roundtable, a cornerstone of the conservative movement,” Kumashiro noted.
