Purdue University Northwest Chancellor Thomas L. Keon is receiving immense backlash on social media after imitating an Asian accent during the school’s commencement ceremony that was held on December 10. Netizens have since taken to social media to express anger against the educational institution.
The incident took place on Saturday, the first day of two commencement ceremonies. A clip of the same was uploaded to Twitter by platform user RichLeePhD. At the time of writing this article, the viral video was used 567.2k times, with what seemed like endless quote tweets. The tweet also read:
“WTF. Can’t get more racist than this @PurdueNorthwest administrator. Who is this person?”
The netizen also tweeted the hashtags AntiAsianHate and StopAsianHate.
What did the Purdue University Chancellor say in his speech?
During the event, Jim Dedelow, a radio jockey, used his fake language to imitate a baby crying in the audience during his speech. After his address, Thomas Keon took to the podium, and the shocking moment took place. Before launching into his own nonsensical language, he said:
“Well, all I can say is…”
The Purdue University Chancellor proceeded to mock Asian languages. He added:
“That’s sort of my Asian version of his…”
Other faculty members that sat behind him were seen laughing.
Netizens express anger over Thomas Keon mocking Asians
Internet users were appalled by the blatant racism displayed by the chancellor. Many could not believe that the educator was unaware of his prejudicial act. Several netizens rallied for him to be terminated from his position.
Purdue University’s Chancellor Thomas Keon addresses incident
The chancellor’s response to the soaring backlash was uploaded to Purdue University’s official website on December 14. Keon acknowledged that his statement was “offensive and insensitive.” He added:
“I am truly sorry for my unplanned, off-the-cuff response to another speaker, as my words have caused confusion, pain, and anger.”
The chancellor went on to defend his actions by speaking about him being “inclusive to all people.” Keon has reportedly formed the PRIDE Team initiative, whose aim it to “promote an open, respectful and welcoming culture.”
He added that their interdisciplinary team will take action to ensure that their campus “welcomes and value all.” Keon ended his statement by saying:
“We are all human. I made a mistake, and I assure you I did not intend to be hurtful and my comments do not reflect my personal or our institutional values. In the true spirit of diversity and inclusion that is a cornerstone of PNW, I will learn from this and assure you that Purdue Northwest and I will take action to prevent such missteps from occurring in the future.”
It seems that Keon will continue to keep his position at the university, which is located in northwest Indiana.
A Tribune spokesperson asked the university’s Bord of Trustees for their response to the incident. The spokesperson stated that the board was aware of the incident that took place during the commencement. They also added that they accept Keon’s apology.
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