Duncan Delivers DePauw Lecture

Duncan served as U.S. Secretary of Education from 2009-2015.

Former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was at DePauw University Thursday. In his lecture, "Why Our Schools Matter More Than Ever," Duncan said education has been slow to evolve.

Duncan said the nation has one common goal, which is academic excellence, and one common enemy, academic failure. He said the U.S. must have a goal of a 100 percent high school graduation rate and that 100 percent of those graduates are ready for college.

"I always say the goal of every great teacher is not to teach. It’s to have kids learn," said Duncan. "We need to have a conversation in our nation about who are those amazing teachers who should be mentoring younger teachers and be the master teachers. And who needs additional help? And yes, maybe who should not be teaching if it’s not quite working over time."

Duncan served as education secretary from 2009 to 2015. He touted some of the successes reached during his time in President Obama’s cabinet, such as getting an additional $1 billion for early childhood education and hitting historic highs for high school graduation. 

However, Duncan pointed out that America needs to find ways to "get better, faster, to accelerate the pace of change and give more young people a chance to be successful."

The Ubben Lecture Series was established in 1986 and has featured many high-profile speakers including former President Bill Clinton, Margaret Thatcher, Mikhail Gorbachev, Colin Powell, Peyton Manning, and Spike Lee, among others.