Monthly Conversation with Mitch Daniels

On last month’s conversation with Purdue President Mitch Daniels, we chatted about the way the school is now tracking incidents involving electric scooters and motorized skateboards. Now, the school has convened a task force to determine whether new rules need to be made regarding their use – to keep both riders and drivers safer. We cover that on this edition of WBAA’s Monthly Conversation with Mitch Daniels, as well as how the school’s interest in bulking up its contracts with global defense

When, in late October, a Puerto Rican Purdue student was denied the purchase of cold medicine at a CVS store across the street from campus, international students and students of color hoped for more of a public response than they got from school administrators – and, undoubtedly, a different response than they got following a recent Purdue Student Government meeting . On this month’s conversation with Purdue President Mitch Daniels – which was taped before that meeting -- he comments on why he

In any organization, the line item that requires the most money is personnel – so at a place like Purdue, which has many thousands of employees, pay and benefits are a big topic of discussion. So it goes on this edition of WBAA’s Monthly Conversation with Mitch Daniels. We talk with him about the fact he’s getting about eight percent more money this year than he did last year, while the average employee got between two and three percent, and what kind of message that sends -- especially in a

Two topics come up time and again on this edition of WBAA’s Monthly Conversation with Mitch Daniels: food and money. Faculty have opposed the opening of a Chick-Fil-A location on campus, in part because the company’s founders oppose same-sex marriage on religious grounds. So is making the proprietor sign boilerplate language about inclusivity and non-discrimination enough to quiet those concerns? And what’s the difference between this and giving money back to the founder of Papa John’s Pizza

Purdue President Mitch Daniels disagrees with the notion that he’s sometimes snarky in the regular column he writes for the Washington Post. He’d prefer to call it sarcasm or humor. But in a recent column about politics – a subject he regularly comments on, even if there’s little connection to his current role in higher education – his language jabs at both parties, but is notably more dismissive to Democratic ideals.

Sometimes news changes fast. When we taped our conversation with Purdue University President Mitch Daniels this month, the school had just announced it’ll change its IDs to make it easier for students to vote in Tippecanoe County. As you’ll hear, Daniels says Purdue isn’t in the elections business, and advises that the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles – which he oversaw as governor – will give free IDs to those who ask. That’s true, and it’s a fact the county election board seized upon a couple

When U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced a few months ago he planned to move the department’s headquarters out of Washington, D.C., Purdue University President Mitch Daniels endorsed the idea every chance he got, and even started his school making some preparations in case Indiana was chosen as the new home. That honor went instead to Kansas City, Missouri – but was there more Indiana could have done to back up its bid?

Admitting as much when he used it in this year’s commencement address, Purdue President Mitch Daniels chose what he called a “distasteful, but descriptive word” – snowflake – to describe graduates at some of Purdue’s competitor institutions. President Daniels insists he’s received more positive comments about the remark than about almost any other speech he’s given, but the backlash was swift on social media, saying he shouldn’t have even invoked a term that’s often been co-opted by some

Despite a slowdown wrought by the Purdue Senate, school president Mitch Daniels says he still thinks next year’s graduating class could be the first one to need to pass a civics exam to receive a diploma. On this edition of WBAA’s Monthly Conversation with Mitch Daniels, we ask him about that timeline, and the one deciding the future of the Purdue Armory, which many community members seem to want to save.

A hallmark of Mitch Daniels’ time as Indiana governor was the expansion of testing of Hoosier students. The tests given to K-12 students have never been more high-stakes than they are now, and that’s rankled plenty of teachers and administrators. Somewhat less rancor has been generated by the Purdue President’s latest testing proposal – a civics exam students would have to pass before they’re awarded a diploma. On this edition of WBAA’s Monthly Conversation With Mitch Daniels, we address how