By admin 
Rahm Emanuel, former White House chief of staff and U.S. ambassador to Japan, accused President Donald Trump of degrading what he called a “premier brand of America” — the nation’s higher education institutions. But, he said at the California Community Colleges’ Futures Summit in Santa Clara Wednesday, a new president can undo that harm and upgrade American higher education.
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Over the past few months, Emanuel has made a flurry of policy proposals, regularly appeared on podcasts and news channels and even undertaken a three-day bike tour in New Hampshire, drawing national attention to his potential bid to be the Democratic presidential candidate in the 2028 election.
At the Futures Summit, an annual convening centered on technology and innovation in the community college system, Emanuel laid out his vision for national higher education reform, drawing heavily on initiatives undertaken during his time as Chicago mayor from 2011 to 2019.
This includes the Star Scholarship program at the City Colleges of Chicago, which offers free tuition and books for students with a 3.0 or higher GPA, and a push to involve industry leaders in curriculum creation to respond to workforce needs. In a May proposal, he outlined a plan to make higher education more affordable by rewarding schools that offer four-year degrees in three years and provide free tuition to students from households earning less than $200,000 per year.
In addition, at the Wednesday summit, Emanuel reiterated his proposal to divert billions of dollars that the Trump administration had earmarked for Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers to community colleges. And, in another departure from current policy, he said he would welcome more international students — who pay higher tuition rates than domestic students — primarily as a way to subsidize tuition costs for American students.
“What the president has done (to higher education) is one of the worst own goals I’ve ever seen,” Emanuel told The Sacramento Bee. “You’re taking one of the premier brands of America, our higher education, and degrading it. It’s like the weirdest way to say ‘I’m putting America first’ because you’re taking something that is first and running it down.”
The second Trump administration has targeted higher education institutions’ diversity, equity and inclusion practices through federal investigations and funding freezes. It has restricted length of stay and opportunities for international students through shifting immigration policy. And through punitive action against student protesters, critics say the federal government has created a chilling effect on campuses.
In a fireside chat with journalist Dan Morain, Emanuel also blamed the leaders of the nation’s higher education institutions for the current condition of the system. Accusing them of poor stewardship, Emanuel said they would have to work harder to make universities and colleges relevant to a changing world. Higher education institutions, he said, were responsible for equipping young people with the skills they need to succeed in today’s economy. With the entry of artificial intelligence, the most important skill, Emanuel said, was critical thinking. He also called for greater regulation of artificial intelligence at the national level.
“You have scientists and leaders saying we need regulation, and nobody is responding. Talk about adult supervision. This November, the president’s going to get adult supervision,” Emanuel said, suggesting he predicts big wins for the Democratic Party in the November midterms.
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Emanuel, 66, has spent the last three decades at the highest echelons of U.S. political power. He served as an advisor to President Bill Clinton before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2003. He was chief of staff to President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2010 and then served two terms as mayor of Chicago. From 2021 to 2025, he served as U.S. ambassador to Japan. Now, although he has not formally announced a campaign for 2028, it is expected that he will join what is likely to be a crowded race in the Democratic presidential primary.
Other potential Democratic candidates for the 2028 presidential election include U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
In addition to Emanuel, the California Community Colleges Futures Summit brought together nearly 1,000 national leaders, educators and innovators to explore how artificial intelligence, emerging technologies and changing workforce needs are reshaping education and the economy.
Hosted by the California Community Colleges Digital Center for Innovation, Transformation and Equity, in partnership with the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office and Foothill–De Anza Community College District, the summit featured speakers including California Community Colleges Chancellor Sonya Christian, State Treasurer Fiona Ma and Association of Community College Trustees President Jee Hang Lee.
“The California Community Colleges are fully in the AI domain. Our approach is AI is here and we have an obligation for our students to be active and vibrant in the workforce,” Christian said. “We have no choice but to be completely connected with industry because we have the responsibility of making sure that the workforce is ready and skilled. Having said that, the reason we are so bold in engaging with AI is because we have already established the guardrails.”
These guardrails, she said, include involving faculty in collective conversations on what belongs in the human domain and what can be relegated to artificial intelligence and protecting student data by creating a closed technology infrastructure for partner educational technology companies to work within. The system’s major AI initiatives so far have included professional development opportunities for staff and faculty and a course assistant to help students understand class expectations and assignments.
The two-day summit, which concludes Thursday, also featured panel discussions on sustainability and ethical use of AI, opportunities for students to present AI projects and a live music performance.
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