Protest held against Gov. Daniels

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - It's been more than two months since the Purdue Board of Trustees named Governor Mitch Daniels as Purdue's next president.

Friday afternoon, students and faculty members against the decision held a protest at Stewart Center on Purdue's campus. The hope was to show that even though it's been more than 60 days, their opinions are not changing.

Tithi Bhattacharya is an associate professor in Purdue's History department and spoke at the protest. She said her fear as a teacher is that as Purdue's president, Governor Daniels will ruin what public education stands for.

"I am a firm believer in public education," said Bhattacharya. "I think education is a right that everyone irrespective of what social background they come from, should have a right to education."

Bhattacharya said she feels Governor Daniels has attacked that principle, saying higher education is not for everyone, rather, only for the elite. She said those claims made by Governor Daniels affect her in more ways than one.

"That affects me as an educator, it affects me as a professor in my classroom, it affects me as a mother of  my four year old, who's going to have to grow up in this atmosphere," said Bhattacharya.

Higher education wasn't the only topic discussed at Friday's protest. Other attendees brought up the ethical issue of Governor Daniels as president, saying there was a conflict of interest in the way the search and appointment were conducted.

Bhattacharya said she was happy with the turnout on Friday, and said no matter what opinions were brought up at the meeting, the goal of all in attendance was the same.

"The important thing is that Purdue maintain its diversity, maintain its academic excellence, and maintain its reputation as a scientific place and a democratic place for people of all colors and all communities," said Bhattacharya.

Yet, it wasn't just students against Daniels in attendance, but for Daniels as well.
Danny Niederberger said his father drove up from Carmel just to bring him his favorite shirt, which he wore to the protest. He didn't want to speak on camera, but said he attended to show his support for Daniels.

Bhattacharya said they plan to hold another protest on September 10 when Governor Daniels comes to Purdue.

"I hope that he understands that it was an undemocratic decision in a lot of ways, an unethical decision, in a lot of ways, and that this is a campaign that is not going to go away," said Bhattacharya.