Most college presidents today seem like they have been produced on an assembly line—and they have, sort of. Nobody who takes a strong stand against any part of the current academic dogmas of diversity, left-wing politics, campus aggrandizement, and economic development is going to rise from the faculty to the president’s office. The ones who do rise have proven that they are either eager to promote the standard academic policies or that they will remain silent while others push the agenda.

The assembly line prepares them poorly for the sort of issues they will face as president—when forced to step up to the plate, they don’t seem to be able to hit the curve. In my eight years at the Pope Center, I have witnessed quite a few supposed academic superstars crash and burn when the inevitable scandal or hard moral choice hits.

Additionally, they are comfortable with the system the way it is; after all, they are a product of that system. Rarely do they recognize their institution’s need for major reform. Instead, they see their job as doing everything they can do to fend off reform.

Every once in a while, however, somebody gets appointed to high academic office who didn’t come from the same mold. Hank Brown was the president of the University of Colorado for a while and had a tough go of it. Mitch Daniels, the former governor of Indiana turned president of Purdue University, has had much smoother sailing, despite some high winds emanating from the faculty. In fact, as a non-academic, he may be the model for a new breed of college administrators who recognize the need for action and leadership instead of the appeasement and damage control tactics learned on the assembly line.