Purdue Northwest chancellor apologizes for racist comment

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The Chancellor of Purdue University North West apologized on Wednesday for his offensive and inappropriate comments during an commencement ceremony, where he briefly spoke incoherently before linking it to the Asian community.

The response was in response to keynote speaker Jim Dedelow’s closing remarks, the Chicago Tribune reported. In his speech, Dedelow talked about a made-up language he invented to amuse his newborn granddaughter; at one point he even used it to silence a baby in the audience when she screamed during her speech.

The startling incident which has gone viral on social media happened after Dedelow ended and Chancellor Thomas Keon returned to the podium.

WTF. I can’t be more racist than this @PurdueNorthwest admin. Who is this person? #AntiAsianHate #StopAsianHate @AcademicChatter pic.twitter.com/Wt7d9pxM8J

— Rich Lee (@RichLeePhD) December 13, 2022

Well, all I can say is, Keon said before launching into his own gibberish that seemed to poke fun at Asian languages. It’s sort of my Asian version of his before he cuts off and moves on to another topic.

I made an offensive and insensitive comment, Keon said. I am very sorry for my unexpected and improvised response to another speaker, because my words caused confusion, pain and anger.

In his statement, Keon said he “didn’t mean to hurt anyone,” adding that he would meet with student government officials and lead a new diversity program called PNW Respecting Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity to better understand and meet the challenges. to the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

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