Students protest outside Daniels' forum

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - More than two dozen students and grad students protested the Daniels appointment outside Loeb Playhouse Tuesday afternoon. 

He hosted a forum and answered questions for faculty of the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Technology inside.

Many were part of the group SOAP, an acronym for the Society for an Open, Accountable Purdue. 

Others saw a flyer on campus or came because a friend told them about it.

A diverse group of messages were written on posters in Stewart Center, from the distrust of the trustees who appointed Daniels, to political positions like Daniels' support of traditional marriage.

"I'm not in favor of a politician entering academia," said grad student Rohit Jain. "I believe it should be the other way around, that academia should control politics, rather than politics controls academia."

Grad Student Mariheida Cordova thinks Tuesday's protest will make a difference.

"I think it does," she said.  "I think the worst thing one can do is not to say anything. I think one should always protest against what you think is unfair."

An organizer demanded the Board of Trustees rescind their decision and asked that the University have a more transparent hiring process.