Mitch Daniels, former Indiana governor and Purdue University president, emphasized the importance of free speech and affordability on college campuses and being watchful of artificial intelligence in a speech at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Monday night.
The speech, hosted by the La Follette School of Public Affairs, headlined the school’s 2026 Spring Spotlight event.
Higher education
As the president of Purdue University from 2013 to 2023, Daniels froze tuition for in-state students, ending 37 consecutive years of tuition increases. It was a move Daniels said earned him popularity in the Purdue community.
“The students love this, the families love this, our alumni really love this,” Daniels recounted.
Daniels said his motivation behind the tuition freeze was not solely sticker price but a better quality education for Purdue students.
“We were out to deliver higher education at the highest proven value. And value, I always stress, is an equation, it is the fundamental equation of life,” Daniels said. “It is not just about price.”
Daniels also argued for more free speech protections on college campuses, stating that students don’t have a “real diversity of viewpoint,” and being able to speak up for their beliefs dissuades groupthink.
“Free speech is more than the mere manner of the First Amendment,” Daniels said. “A college, a university campus, should be the arena. It should be the laboratory, the place where they practice the highest forms of self government.”
Daniels also said he is keeping a watchful eye on AI in higher education, stating that he doesn’t “like to be alarmist,” but that it is an important topic for college students, especially recent graduates seeking jobs.
“In terms of AI, at this point, it can not stop,” Daniels said. “And it’s not just a matter, although it is a matter of displacing jobs, the very kind of jobs that Madison has, and I think Purdue is so great at producing people for.”
Daniels said he remains hopeful, however, about the future of higher education and American society, saying the country’s adaptability is an advantage in navigating future change.
“We are still a society that’s very dynamic, that still is open to new ideas, to newcomers, which I hope we maintain that, or return to that,” Daniels said. “If any sort of society can surf its way through what I think is happening, technologically, it’s a society like ours.”
