Chancellor who made racist joke sparks outrage as he announces he’ll ‘move to faculty’

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Thomas Keon, who currently serves as chancellor of Purdue Northwest (PNW), has announced he will move to faculty next year, sparking outrage from university officials.

In an email obtained by the Chicago Tribune, Keon said the transition would occur after June 30, 2024, explaining that the move was in line with Purdue University’s system limit on how long a chancellor can serve. the post.

For the past few years I have known that my last day as Chancellor will be June 30, 2024. This leadership transition is part of the evolution of PNW and these types of transitions have happened over the last 75 years. I have enjoyed and enjoyed serving Purdue Northwest, its students, faculty, staff and community and will continue to do so for the next year and beyond.

Along with the announcement of the transition, Purdue University President Mung Chiang and the Board of Trustees also announced that a Search Advisory Committee to select the next Chancellor will be formed.

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The committee will be led by Administrator Malcolm DeKryger, whom Governor Eric Holcomb appointed in August 2022, and Associate Vice President of Human Resources Amy Boyle.

Speaking to the Chicago Tribune on Friday, PNW faculty senate chairman Thomas Roach took issue with how the university plans to seek the next chancellor, a responsibility the faculty senate has had for years.

All previous research has been directed by the Faculty Senate; I appointed (the committee) in 2012, when Keon was chosen. When we were asked if a director could be part of the committee, we allowed it. But they are now overstepping their authority, and they are arrogant enough to think they know what we need. We need to have a statewide discussion (across campuses) about how to be an administrator; now, one only has to succeed in business or in politics to be chosen, and that was never intended.

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Several Purdue Northwest officials and other academics also expressed outrage over Keons’ announcement, which stemmed from the chancellors’ racist joke poking fun at Asian languages ​​at the schools’ opening ceremony on December 10, 2022. .

In a statement to WBAA-AM, Roach expressed outrage that the board allowed the chancellor to stay on despite the incident.

PNW Faculty Senate Vice President David Nalbone believes the university is showing a lack of care in allowing Keon to transition to faculty.

That means the board doesn’t care about the faculty, the board doesn’t care about the quality of this university, and it doesn’t care about the reputation of Purdues, Nalbone told WBAA-AM. It’s far more interested in poking the eye of anyone brazenly enough to say Maybe we shouldn’t tolerate racist comments.

Meanwhile, Charissa Cheah, professor of psychology at the University of Maryland in Baltimore County, told the Chicago Tribune that what the university did in the Keons case was egregious, referring to the lack of action by schools to hold Keon accountable.

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In a statement, Cheah said the decision by Purdue Northwests reinforced the idea that acts of racism carry little or no consequences for perpetrators with racial, economic privilege and other social positionings,” adding that the situation is an example of institutionalized racism that “systematically supports white supremacy.”

For AAPI Purdue and other minority communities, the take-home message is that prejudice against AAPI and other minority communities is okay, Cheah continued.

Keon faced increasing pressure from the AAPI community to step down over the controversy.

Keon finally issued an apology four days after the PNW opening ceremony. In his letter, the PNW Chancellor assured the community that he had no intention of hurting people and that his comments do not reflect my personal or institutional values.

Days after the incident, Roach launched an anonymous campaign that resulted in a majority no-confidence vote against Keon’s management. The anonymous ballots were sent to approximately 238 university staff and faculty.

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