Bari Weiss, journalist and founder of media company The Free Press, and Mitch Daniels, former Indiana Governor and president of Purdue University, spoke Thursday evening at an event titled “Where Do We Go From Here? The Future of Free Speech on College Campus” in Old Cabell Hall. During the event, Weiss and Daniels shared their concerns about the erosion of free speech on college campuses, the dangers of self-censorship and how college and university administrators should respond to protests and large gatherings.
The event was hosted in honor of the 60th anniversary of the Free Speech Movement by Think Again at U.Va. — an initiative with the stated mission of encouraging students to think critically and promote free expression — and the Heterodox Academy, an organization that says it works to improve research and education at the University by encouraging open inquiry.
Weiss’ company, The Free Press, is a media organization that bases its reporting on values of independence and honesty, according to its website. Prior to starting The Free Press, Weiss worked as an opinion staff-editor at the Wall Street Journal from 2013 to 2017, and the New York Times from 2017 to 2020. When Weiss left the New York Times in 2020, she published a resignation letter in which she stated that the paper had made itself performative instead of committed to free speech, with X, at the time known as Twitter, being their “ultimate editor.”
Weiss spoke on her resignation from the New York Times at Thursday’s event, saying she feels blessed to no longer be working for the organization.
“I still know quite a lot of people that work there, and the kind of distortions … that they need to indulge in in order to keep their jobs is painful,” Weiss said.
Speaking alongside Weiss, Daniels is a businessman and retired politician who served as the 49th governor of Indiana from 2005 to 2013 before becoming president of Purdue University, a role he held from 2013 until the end of 2022. Earlier in his career, Daniels worked as a chief political advisor and liaison to President Ronald Reagan, and also served as director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003.
The evening began with a featured screening of a short documentary chronicling the birth of the Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley, in which students protested administrators’ implementation of restrictions on political expression at the school in 1964. This film is directed by Paul Wagner, Drama lecturer and Oscar-winning film maker, and produced by Ellen Casey Wagner.
The film was created with the support of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, an organization with the stated mission of educating Americans about their rights to free speech and thought. In recognition of its commitment to these values, FIRE ranked the University number one in its 2025 College Free Speech Rankings, a decision which received pushback from some students and faculty given the University’s decision to forcibly clear a pro-Palestine encampment near the University Chapel May 4, with police arresting 27 people.
After the documentary, Weiss discussed free speech on college campuses in particular, stating that many universities have implemented the Chicago Principles — a set of ideals encouraging free speech without fear of suppression — which were first adopted by Purdue University in 2015 under Daniels' leadership. While the University has not adopted the Chicago Principles, it introduced a similar statement on free speech in 2021 that pledged that the institution is committed to protecting free speech, expression and inquiry.
Weiss said that the United States is facing an “epidemic of cowardice,” adding that the fear of being “canceled” and suffering reputational damage due to expressing one’s true beliefs has led people to censor themselves and their opinions. Weiss said that free speech is as much about overcoming this behavior as it is about protecting the right itself.
“Free speech is not just about the right to speech,” Weiss said. “It’s about refusing to go along with compelled speech.”
While Weiss said she had not heard about the events surrounding the encampment at the University, she and Daniels discussed similar protests that occurred at Columbia last semester. At Columbia University, pro-Palestinian protesters have occupied campus buildings to voice their opposition to the war in Gaza, leading to increased tensions on campus. Police intervened to clear the encampments, resulting in numerous arrests and heightened security concerns.
During the discussion, Daniels asked Weiss what she would have done differently if she were president of Columbia University during the recent protests. Weiss responded that she would also have “enforced the law” against students who protested.
"Those students were holding these janitors hostage at [Columbia University].” Weiss said. “How can that be construed as being on the side of social justice, I will never know. But first, what I would say is to enforce the law on all of the students … that destroyed property.”
Weiss also said it is important for universities to clearly outline the difference between speech and violence and to articulate what the deeper purpose of a university is — to help students grow into citizens who will uphold and further civilization.
“You have a right as a student at Columbia to go and say ‘I love Hamas’’” Weiss said. “You're entitled to do that in America. But if you run a university like Columbia, you should make it very clear that the kind of worldview that celebrates terror is not what the university stands for.”
Daniels added that there should be distinction between speech and conduct. Daniels said there are critical moments where universities failed first to enforce the rules as the rights of others were trespassed by conduct.
Second-year College student Dalton Haydel, who attended the event, said he feels that University students effectively support free speech, as there are a diverse group of organizations through which students can express themselves freely.
“Whether it’s College Democrats and Republicans or the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society and the Washington Literary and Debating Society or the Civil Discourse Initiative, there are a lot of really good organizations that are student led that promote free speech,” Haydel said. “I think on a university level, there’s always room for improvement.”
Similarly, Weiss said that the University is an example of an institution that effectively supports free speech on its campus.
“I was so impressed with the students that I met … while things here may not be perfect, compared to a lot of other similar schools, [the University is] going wildly in the right direction.”
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