PHOENIX — Despite the prevalent perception of excessive administrative layers and a tilt towards leftist ideologies in higher education, the president of a Michigan-based private university grounded in America’s founding principles remains optimistic about the future of academia.

Dr. Kent MacDonald, who leads Northwood University in Midland, Michigan, which serves over 2,000 undergraduate students, shared his vision for education.

“At Northwood University, our philosophy is encapsulated in what we call the ‘Northwood Idea,'” MacDonald explained during an interview with Fox News Digital at the AmericaFest conference organized by Turning Point USA in Phoenix. “This concept has been a cornerstone for many years, emphasizing the importance of free enterprise, limited government, the rule of law, private property, and my personal favorite, personal responsibility, both as a father and as a university president.”

Dr. MacDonald was a featured speaker at a breakout session on December 20 titled “Restoring Higher Education With Ideals That Built a Free Nation.” The session was attended by several of his students, with whom he maintains a personal rapport.

Dr. Kent MacDonald, president of Northwood University in Michigan, addresses participants during a breakout session on December 20, 2025, at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in Phoenix. (Peter D’Abrosca/Fox News Digital)

Those uniquely American principles, MacDonald said, comprise what he calls America’s “free enterprise university.” Most students focus strictly on business and management educations, and one in three alumni owns their own business.

“We’re absolutely unapologetic in our belief that free enterprise and capitalism is what will make the country prosper, and it’s fundamentally based on the founders’ principles and what they believed this country should be,” he said.

The school, which says it has no debt and prides itself on abstaining from superfluous administrative bloat, leaves no room for institutional bias.

“We talk a lot about civility in campuses,” MacDonald said. “There’s a lot of times I don’t see it anymore, but at Northwood, it’s a peaceful place. We have our students deal with uncomfortable topics. We deeply believe in freedom of speech, and I’ve said, look, if you are uncomfortable at Northwood at some point, we’ve done our job.“

Northwood University students photographed near a sign at one of the school’s main entrances. Photo taken on an unknown date.  (Courtesy: Northwood University)

During his panel at AmericaFest, MacDonald spoke about what he termed “ideological drift,” an idea that American universities have moved and are continuing to move further to the political left.

“It goes back maybe a hundred years and we’ve had evidence of there being faculty and students who exposed the left-leaning views of a disproportionate number of people in positions of authority, including the most important ones at a university — the faculty,” he said.

“These great schools that people come from around the world [to attend] continue to have a disproportionate number of faculty, in particular with left-leaning ideologies, and that makes its way into the classroom and I think that that does not do a service to people who have studied [at] universities, who believe in what we’re supposed to be doing.” he said, adding that the institutional bias is an “absolute disservice” to the mission of higher education.

In his talk, MacDonald also referenced declining participation in higher education among men, which he believes starts in the K-12 education system.

The Abe on the Prairie statue on Northwood University’s Mall Walk, taken on an unknown date.  (Courtesy: Northwood University )

“What I think we need to do is find an opportunity and be positive in terms of masculinity,” he said. “Allow [men] to be gentlemen on our campus, engage them in different ways, find programs that they feel that they’re going to be successful. So it really is more of a societal issue that we need to start to deal with because it’s not just for those men, it’s for society as a whole.”

“The lack of productivity and human value that we’re losing in these young men is a serious concern and that will lead to all kinds of other challenges socially,” he continued.

Students who spoke with Fox News Digital after MacDonald’s session are all-in on Northwood, particularly at a place where the free exchange of ideas is welcome.

Julian Lee is part of an accelerated MBA program at the school. He’s of Hmong descent, a small ethnic group in Southeast Asia known for offering support to American troops in the Vietnam War. He’s proud of his heritage, and also proud to be an American.

“I truly believe in capitalism,” he told Fox News Digital. “Like, your merits are what get you things in life, and also based off of your merits, you will see the fruits of your labor. And so I truly believe in that, and on campus, you can see that with the students in how competitive they are, and how focused they are in their own craft and what they want to do.”

An attendee prays during Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2025, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, in Phoenix.  (Jon Cherry/AP Photo)

Lee also said many students at the school are rooted in their Christian faith, though the school has no official religious affiliation.

“Our university gives us the freedom to debate, the freedom of religion, the freedom to express whatever ideas that you may have,” he said.

Caiden Doan is a junior studying business management and entrepreneurship.

“You can sit in a classroom and debate with people who might not agree with you, and you can hear their side, but no one — like [MacDonald] said — you’ll go out to lunch with them right after,” he said. “It’ll be the same friendship that you had.”

Despite its problems, MacDonald has hope for the institution of academia. He also said that America’s universities are still the envy of the world.

“If we can go back to the values of respect and integrity and civility and seek truth in all of our learning, life will get a lot better,” he said.

“It’s going to be hard, it’s going to be a long journey, but I’m still hopeful, and on this one I believe in higher education. I deeply believe in American higher education, and I don’t have to go any further than walking to campus at Northwood University to say there is hope. And it’s not just us. There’s others, and there’s pockets in other institutions. We just need to celebrate those.”