Jerry Kang (born 1968) is a South Korean-born American legal scholar and academic administrator. He is a Professor of Law at the

UCLA School of Law The UCLA School of Law is one of 12 professional schools at the University of California, Los Angeles. UCLA Law has been consistently ranked by '' U.S. News & World Report'' as one of the top 20 law schools in the United States since the inception ...

, where he also taught Asian American Studies. Since 2015, he has served as is

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

's first vice chancellor for equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Early life

Kang was born in South Korea. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, where he earned a bachelor of arts in 1990. He went on to earn a juris doctor from the

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

in 1993. He was a supervising editor of the ''

Harvard Law Review The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of 143 ...

'', and he also served as Special Assistant to Harvard University's Advisory Committee on Free Speech.

Career

Kang was appointed as UCLA's first vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion on July 1, 2015. Kang joined the

in 1995. He teaches the law and Asian American Studies. He has published research about the

Internment of Japanese Americans Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In October 2016, leaflets published by the

David Horowitz Freedom Center The David Horowitz Freedom Center, formerly the Center for the Study of Popular Culture (CSPC), is a conservative anti-Islam foundation founded in 1988 by political activist David Horowitz and his long-time collaborator Peter Collier. It was ...

suggested Kang was an "advocate of campus terrorist supporters" for his support of

Students for Justice in Palestine Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is a pro-Palestinian college student activism organization in the United States, Canada and New Zealand. It has campaigned for boycott and divestment against corporations that deal with Israel and organize ...

. In a similar style, in October 2017, fliers appeared on the UCLA campus naming Kang as the "Minister of Inequity, Homogeneity, and Exclusion," alleging that his leadership "opposes intellectual diversity, stifles freedom of speech, and promotes dictatorial demagoguery." Both the 2016 and 2017 events included the hashtag #NoSanctuaryCampusForCriminals. Kang earned $354,900 in 2015 and $444,234.00 in 2016. On October 29, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Kang to be a member of the National Council on the Humanities within the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

References

1968 births Living people South Korean emigrants to the United States Harvard Law School alumni UCLA School of Law faculty American legal scholars {{US-legal-academic-bio-stub