IU Bloomington Chancellor David Reingold held a Q&A with IU Student Government Monday night, addressing freedom of speech concerns, IU President Pamela Whitten’s raise and non-traditional students.
These were some of the key topics:
Future of the IDS and freedom of speech
An IUSG representative questioned IU’s plans regarding potential of censorship diversity, equity and inclusion language. The university closed its DEI office in May following federal and state efforts to curtail DEI in government and education.
In response to the representative’s question, Reingold referred to the university’s recent resolution adopting the Chicago Principles on campus as guidelines to student free speech protections.
The Chicago Principles are a set of freedom of speech values established by the University of Chicago and adopted by over 100 universities.
The Board of Trustees’ decision to adopt the principles follows several free speech controversies. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression named IU the country’s worst public university for freedom of speech in 2025. FIRE cited IU’s handling of the pro-Palestinian Dunn Meadow encampment in 2024 and the cancellation of Palestinian painter Samia Halaby’s exhibition at the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, among other events.
IUSG member Eric Cannon asked Reingold about the future of the Indiana Daily Student. Reingold encouraged its print edition to continue as long as it follows budget restrictions and called himself “a faithful reader.” He expressed support for entrepreneurial efforts, such as the IDS’ decision to sell national championship posters.
“If the paper has the money to print, it should be able to print as much as it wants or as little as it wants,” Reingold said.
The Media School fired Director of Student Media Jim Rodenbush on Oct. 14 after he refused administrators’ orders to restrict the Oct. 16 print paper to just Homecoming content. Hours later, The Media School cut the print edition entirely, which Reingold wrote in a statement dealt with method of distribution, not editorial content.
After backlash from the paper’s editors, community members, alumni and donors, the chancellor and the university reversed course Oct. 30 and allowed the IDS to resume print. Media School Dean David Tolchinsky announced plans for a task force on the editorial independence and financial sustainability of student media Oct. 20.
President Pamela Whitten’s raise
The IU Board of Trustees unanimously approved a $100,000 raise for President Pamela Whitten at its meeting Friday. She now earns $1 million a year.
Connor Hatch, an IUSG representative for off-campus housing, asked Reingold how the raise improved the student and faculty experience.
Reingold declined to comment, responding it wouldn’t be “appropriate” for him to respond.
“They (the Board of Trustees) have, I think, the best interest of the university, you know, in the decisions that they make, and I fully respect the decisions that they make in that regard,” Reingold said.
Non-traditional students at IU
UUSG congressmember Josh Brewer also brought up his concerns for non-traditonal students, describing himself as the oldest IUSG member and possibly oldest undergraduate at the Kelley School of Business. He spoke about IU’s lack of effort to recruit non-traditional students.
“Quite frankly, that has been kind of a struggling experience for me because I don't have a lot of people I can relate to on campus that are in my shoes,” Brewer said.
Reingold suggested the university could adjust class times to accommodate older students who may also be working or need childcare. He also encouraged IU Indianapolis as a better option for non-traditional students.
IU spokesperson Mark Bode previously told the IDS that IUB has 441 enrolled undergraduate students over the age of 25, a common marker of non-traditional status, as of this semester. That’s out of nearly 50,000 undergraduates. Non-traditional students can also include students under 25 with dependents or working full time.
Other remarks
IU announced in a Feb. 5 press release that Rahul Shrivastav would be stepping down from his role as provost to become interim vice president of student success, a university-wide position. John Ciorciari, dean of the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, is now interim provost.
Reingold declined to comment on specifics of the provost selection process to the IDS.
The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is investigating if IU’s scholarship programs are compliant with federal law and whether the university is “discriminating against program participants based on any statutorily prohibited basis,” the IDS previously reported.
When asked about the investigation, Reingold said IU is fully compliant with federal law.
“If you had a magic wand that could do immediate change for IU, what would be your first three wishes be?” one representative asked.
Reingold responded he would like to lower tuition, double the amount of dorm rooms available and do a complete restoration of the Indiana Memorial Union.
Reingold said he finds Q&A sessions with students help him keep in touch with the concerns of the student body.
“At the end of the day, if we're not serving you guys well and doing what we need to do to give you guys the opportunities that you came here for, then we are in trouble,” Reingold said. “Staying in touch and knowing where you guys are and the things that matter to you is important to me.”
Editor’s note: Eric Cannon is an opinion editor at the IDS. He was not involved in the reporting or editing of this story.
