By Malar Raguraman
The Purdue Exponent
November 9, 2026
Starting Thursday, Purdue University will return to aiding in the distribution of The Exponent on campus. On Oct. 30, the Purdue Student Publishing Foundation, the non-profit that oversees The Exponent, signed a contract with The Trustees of Purdue University, resolving distribution, parking and licensing misalignments from over the last year and a half.
The Exponent and Purdue operated under a 1999 agreement until 2014. The Exponent had attempted to renew the contract for another five years, but Purdue never signed an extension of the contract.
However, both parties informally adhered to the agreement until May 30, 2025, when Purdue sent an email informing Exponent staff that it would cease the distribution it had previously undertaken. Additionally, it revoked The Exponent’s parking permits and contested The Exponent’s right to use “Purdue” in its name.
Until then, Purdue had moved copies of The Exponent from loading docks at each building to their final distribution points and had distributed an additional 1,400 copies to choice locations through Purdue’s Materials Management and Distribution Center.
Without Purdue’s contributions, The Exponent estimates the total number of drop locations fell by around 30%. The Exponent currently independently distributes 6,000 copies of each edition every Monday and Thursday.
Over this summer, Purdue officials expressed interest in a new agreement with The Exponent to Exponent alum and reporter at CQ Roll Call Mark Schoeff Jr. This was a “catalyst” for negotiations between the two parties, in which Schoeff was not involved.
The new contract returns to the relationship Purdue and The Exponent maintained before May 30, 2025. It is in place until July 31, 2036, when both parties have the option to agree to renew it for another 10 years.
The Exponent is financially and editorially independent from Purdue. This independence of the press is something the university recognizes and values, said Trevor Peters, director of issues and reputation management and university spokesperson.
“A campus like ours needs a student newspaper and student voice,” Peters said. “We are glad we could resolve some misunderstandings and align on a single agreement rather than relying on a patchwork of old or expired documents.”
This new deal ensures that all of the Purdue community has access to copies of The Exponent, particularly faculty, said Editor-In-Chief Avery Goldthorpe.
“A lot of professors do read us, and it’s helpful if they can get (The Exponent) directly delivered to them in their mailboxes,” Goldthorpe said. “If we’re experiencing these interruptions in getting the paper out there, it is our professional opinion that that’s a violation of our freedom of the press. Having this deal in place just removes all of that uncertainty.”
However, signing the contract has had more impacts than just distribution and parking, Exponent Publisher Kyle Charters said. Discussions with Purdue, which had started last summer, rebuilt a “healthy relationship” between the two parties, Charters said.
“A healthy relationship doesn’t mean that we’re soft on everything we cover,” Charters said. “It means that we’re covering the good news that comes out of Purdue. We’re covering the bad news that comes out of Purdue. We’re covering the challenging news that comes out of Purdue, but we’re doing it in a fashion where we can have open communication with the university about those things.”
In these conversations, the two parties also discussed The Exponent’s approach to sensitive stories and recognized that some “weren’t done justice,” Goldthorpe said. Discussing ethics openly with Purdue has helped both parties establish a working two-way relationship, keeping The Exponent a “learning institution” that strives for improvement, Goldthorpe said.
“We still have to do our jobs of holding the university accountable when things don’t go well,” Goldthorpe said. “But they can at least have better trust that now we’re going to go about it in an ethical way. We’re going to go about it in a factual way, in the right way.”
Beyond the conditions of the agreement, Goldthorpe hopes an open relationship with Purdue may also encourage more faculty and Purdue-affiliated individuals to talk to The Exponent.
Schoeff, who is also the president of the National Press Club, had expressed his concerns regarding the lack of an agreement in his inaugural speech last February. To him, a new agreement is a win for both the university and The Exponent, which is “a lab for free speech,” he said.
“Purdue doesn’t have a journalism school, so The Exponent newsroom is where journalism is taught at Purdue,” Schoeff said. “(And it’s) not just journalism. It’s where the idea of freedom of speech is fortified at Purdue. Purdue’s been honored by outside groups for its promotion of free speech, and now that recognition of Purdue for supporting free speech is supported by Purdue’s approach and attitude toward The Exponent.”
Purdue, under the leadership of current Interim President Mitch Daniels during his official term in 2015, was the first public university to sign the Chicago Principles, a pledge to uphold free speech on campus. This year, Purdue is also ranked third among public universities in free speech, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
The news of healing between The Exponent and Purdue is encouraging to hear, especially amid a political climate that has frequently challenged the freedom of the press, Schoeff said. On Oct. 14, 2025, Jim Rodenbush, student media director for Indiana University’s student newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student, was fired. This sparked coverage that won both the IDS and The Exponent the Fred Brown SPJ Ethics in Journalism Award.
Ultimately, The Exponent is crucial for both the Purdue and Greater Lafayette communities in a time when national news is prioritized over local changes, Goldthorpe said. He is glad Purdue is recognizing The Exponent’s local significance through the new contract and sustained, honest conversation.
“Our staff is all (Purdue) students,” Goldthorpe said. “We all want to see Purdue do well. When we sat down at that table in July, I really tried to emphasize that point. We, the students, really want this relationship to be good. We really do. It benefits all of us.”
This story was originally published by The Purdue Exponent.
The Purdue Exponent is the independent student media organization serving the Purdue University community. It is published by the Purdue Student Publishing Foundation, a non-profit educational organization. For questions about the story, contact editor-in-chief Avery Goldthorpe at editor@purdueexponent.org.
