and outlined his initial priorities such as affordability, academic excellence and academic freedom. Daniels has continued this practice, opting to send Open Letters to the Purdue community instead of giving a formal State of the University speech, as is more common in higher education. Student interactions Daniels has consistently argued that his top priority is students such as in 2020 when he said: "We are only here, all of us, because of students, and to imagine that that is not our driving priority is a serious confusion..." Daniels works out most days at the student gym and eats frequently with students in dining facilities and Greek houses. In March 2013, he joined forces with a group of engineering students to create a viral music video promoting engineering and Purdue University. Within 24 hours, the video had received over 50,000 views. Purdue home football games feature a segment entitled "Where's Mitch?", in which, the stadium video board shows the camera panning the crowd and eventually finding Daniels sitting among the fans, sometimes in the student section. Former Purdue presidents rarely left their suite in the press-box structure. In April 2019, Daniels received a T-shirt gun for his birthday that he uses to shoot t-shirts with his printed picture into the student section during home basketball games. At the Spring 2021 Commencement, Daniels rode into the Purdue Football Stadium on a couch car designed by Purdue students that was often spotted on campus during that academic year. Purdue Polytechnic Indianapolis high school In 2015, Daniels announced plans to open the Purdue Polytechnic Indianapolis high school, designed to be a bridge for inner-city students to Purdue by admitting graduates directly to Purdue. Daniels described the high school as an attempt to increase the number of low-income, first-generation, and minority students who are prepared for Purdue. Purdue now operates three such high schools but as of summer 2021, only one school had existed long enough to graduate a class of seniors. Of that class, forty students were admitted to Purdue for fall 2021, more than double the average of 15 who attend Purdue from Indianapolis Public Schools. Racial equity and handling of racist incidents Daniels has been criticized by student groups and faculty for his unwillingness to take stronger stances on public displays of white supremacy on campus. In November 2016, posters appeared on campus with drawings of white people with sayings such as