Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels Discusses Higher Ed, Public Policy

Daniels discussed his time as governor and as president of Purdue University in an event hosted by the La Follette School of Public Affairs

“Knowledge only advances when ideas collide,” said former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels during his recent visit to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

On Monday, February 16th, the La Follette School of Public Affairs hosted Daniels in Memorial Union as its Spring Spotlight speaker. Daniels criticized higher education for not promoting discourse to the fullest extent, and potentially not preparing students for the post-college world. Audience members included Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, and former Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle.

Daniels served as the Governor of Indiana from 2005 until 2013, before serving as President of Purdue University from 2013 until 2023. He previously served in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

There are “way too many [colleges] with no diversity of viewpoint,” Daniels said as he emphasized how a large majority of college students ideologically tend to all think a certain way.

Daniels said that as President of Purdue University, he thought that college should be the laboratory for “the highest forms of self government, debate exchange, and compromises.”

He emphasized that the institution’s primary goal should be “preparing our best young people for citizenship in a free society.”

Daniels said Americans have “raised a couple generations of very fragile young people,” and that he thinks overly protective parents have caused students to be less accepting of opinions that may differentiate from their own. Daniels also mentioned how for years, universities were avoiding free speech and intellectual diversity concerns. This resulted in those problems going unresolved and trust in the institutions going down.

Daniels said that he is okay with the government cutting some federal funding if the universities fail to reach these open discussion values that go to promoting good citizenship. “To fail to actively foster a climate for a maximum openness of ideas,” Daniels said, “is to strike at the heart of the academic enterprise.”

When asked about the Trump administration’s approach to higher education, he had mixed opinions. Daniels said that he disagreed with some of the research funding cuts, specifically those related to medical research. However, he said some of the funding was “highly discretionary,” so he was not opposed to cutting certain projects. He said universities do need to be more fiscally responsible with their funds.

The best way to improve relations between higher education, policy makers, and the public, Daniels said, is to take a position of neutrality on all political issues. As President of Purdue, Daniels kept this notion of neutrality while also prioritizing affordability and freezing tuition at 2012 levels which reduced the cost of attendance. This approach as president of the university allowed Purdue’s admission rates to grow, and Daniels was ranked among the top 50 world leaders by Fortune magazine in 2015.

Daniels said there is a need for a more open debate on college campuses, as it is the best way to create effective citizens in a democratic society. He said he is confident that universities, including UW-Madison, are making reforms to promote a more inclusive environment for students who may feel uncomfortable sharing their views. Finally, Daniels believes that public confidence in our great institutions will not return until people see meaningful change in this area.