Former Purdue University president Mitch Daniels stated on Sunday that students who protest and break laws should be removed from universities and their spots given to other applicants who were initially denied entry.
Daniels, the former Republican governor of Indiana, expressed in an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday” that he believes the appropriate consequences for these actions are expulsion from the university.
He added, “These prestigious institutions pride themselves on their selectivity. For every student who broke a rule or a law, there were numerous others who would have cherished that spot. That spot should now be offered to one of them so they can make use of this great opportunity of attending a good university as it was intended.”
Daniels mentioned that he does not agree with the idea of revoking student visas from those who support Hamas, the U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization responsible for the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
When asked about that proposal, Daniels responded, “Probably not in most cases.”
He also stated, “Although if somebody broke the law, I think there are already rules that require or at least allow the termination of their right to visit this country. You don’t have a right to come in and harm others, and there has been some of that going on. But no, not generally.”
University administrators have faced criticism over their responses as protests have intensified on college campuses in recent weeks. Some have been condemned for not taking sufficient steps to enforce campus policies and protect Jewish students who feel threatened, while others have criticized police intervention as unnecessarily aggressive.
