Today, the U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon delivered remarks as part of her “The Next 250: American Education” speaking series. The Secretary is delivering these speeches to highlight the Trump Administration’s K-12 education, workforce, and higher education accomplishments, and to lay out the vision for the next 250 years of education in our nation.
Secretary McMahon delivered her fourth and final speech on the Trump Administration’s efforts to restore public confidence in higher education at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, to students, educators, and local leaders. Her speech calls on colleges and universities to restore merit, remove ideological litmus tests from hiring and admissions, and promote intellectual diversity, and it details how the Administration’s accountability agenda is already driving positive change. Secretary McMahon commended Vanderbilt University for courageously leading the charge to implement bold reforms, particularly through the release of its Declaration of First Principles(link is external) , which commits the university to pathbreaking research; teaching students how to think, not what to think; and ensures education and research support the national interest.
Some highlights of the speech include:
“2024 was a turning point for America – and for higher education.
The most vivid examples of institutional decay rising to the surface compelled a reckoning, a return to the basic standards that powered centuries of academic vitality.”
“A tide of reform is finally washing over our campuses – powered by some institutional leaders who have boldly acknowledged the need to rebuild public trust, restore sanity, and revive a culture of excellence and accountability. I have chosen to come to Vanderbilt because it stands as a national example of this renewal.”
“Thanks to Chancellor Diermeier’s leadership, Vanderbilt has reemerged as the nation’s leading private university by reclaiming campus life’s timeless pillars of truth, institutional neutrality, and open inquiry – ideals that long safeguarded the pursuit of knowledge and now light the way for a new era of academic integrity.”
“Today, in our nation’s 250th year, I urge college and university leaders, courageous students, and all who care about truth to seize this moment and help restore the principles that once made these institutions powerhouses of American pride and advancement.”
Watch the Secretary’s full remarks here(link is external) .
Read the full remarks here .