To mark New England Board of Higher Education's (NEBHE) 50th anniversary year, "Connection" invited a small group of visionary commentators to submit short "statements" on the future of New England's economic and civic development, tomorrow's technologies and the changing shape of higher education. This article includes the following "statements": (1) In Search of New NEBHEs (Neal Peirce and Curtis Johnson); (2) Demography Is Still Destiny (Peter Francese); (3) New England's Going to Do It Again (James T. Brett); (4) The Human Development Gap (James P. Comer); (5) A Future in Concrete? (Seymour Papert); (6) Teaching Expert Thinking (Chris Dede); (7) Affordability and Opportunity (Sandy Baum); (8) A Plan for Higher Education Access (John F. Tierney); (9) Diversifying Academic Knowledge (Esther Kingston-Mann); (10) Close the Latino Education Gap (Marilda L. Gandara); (11) Attracting Students to Science (George M. Langford); (12) A Regional Resource for R&D (Andrew G. De Rocco); and (13) A Tall Order for New England (Robert E. Miller).