What’s next for Congressman Langevin?

US Rep. James R. Langevin addresses guests as Rhode Island's Democratic congressional delegation endorses State Treasurer Seth Magaziner for the 2nd Congressional District seat at the Johnston Democratic Town Committee Headquarters in September. In November, Magaziner won the seat from which Langevin is retiring.Ryan T. Conaty for the Boston Gl

In his final speech on the House floor last week, US Representative James Langevin offered had a message for Rhode Island: “Although I will no longer be in Congress come the beginning of next year, I’m not going away. I’m just coming home.”

So what exactly does that mean?

I wrote a column last year making the case for the retiring congressman to be the next president of Rhode Island College, and he didn’t rule out having interest in leading his alma mater. But the state currently requires its president to have a PhD, and there aren’t immediate plans to waive that requirement.

We do know that RIC is going to be home to Langevin’s congressional archives. The college announced last week that it will take about three months to organize about 30 boxes of physical items and thousands of electronic records, so an exhibit will open sometime next year.

There’s another local college that will welcome Langevin in 2023: Brown University.

Langevin is expected to be named a fellow at the Watson Institute come January, although spokespeople for the congressman and Brown declined to comment this week. 

Langevin would be joined US Representative David Cicilline, who is already a senior fellow at the Watson Institute specializing in international and public affairs.

This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, data about the coronavirus in the state, and more. If you’d like to receive it via e-mail Monday through Friday, you can sign up here.