Sherman Hsiu-huang Wu (; 1937 – May 11, 2010) was a

Chinese-American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from m ...

social activist and professor, whose experiences at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

brought the issue of discrimination against Asian Americans to the fore. The general condemnation of the prejudice exhibited against him presaged later actions in the

Asian American movement The Asian American movement was a sociopolitical movement in which the widespread grassroots effort of Asian Americans affected racial, social and political change in the U.S, reaching its peak in the late 1960s to mid-1970s. During this period Asia ...

. Wu was born in China to K. C. Wu, a Chinese politician, and Edith Huang."Obituaries: Edith Huang "; Savannah Morning News, August 25, 2002. () The younger Wu was prevented from leaving

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

, where his father had served as governor, after the rest of his family had moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. K.C. Wu charged that this action was retaliation for his criticisms of the government of

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

. Eventually, however, Wu was allowed to leave. Sherman Wu is best known because of the song "The Ballad of Sherman Wu", by Arthur Winner, which appeared on the

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notabl ...

recording ''Gazette''. The lyrics to the song are available a
The Mudcat Cafe

Experience with discrimination by Northwestern University fraternity

Wu attempted to pledge at the

Psi Upsilon Psi Upsilon (), commonly known as Psi U, is a North American fraternity,''Psi Upsilon Tablet'' founded at Union College on November 24, 1833. The fraternity reports 50 chapters at colleges and universities throughout North America, some of which ...

fraternity at

in the Fall of 1956. After originally being told that he would be able to join the fraternity, he was "depledged" after his fellow pledges objected to someone of Chinese ancestry joining the organization. Wu wrote a letter to ''

The Daily Northwestern ''The Daily Northwestern'' is the student newspaper at Northwestern University which is published in print on Mondays and Thursdays and online daily during the academic year. Founded in 1881, and printed in Evanston, Illinois, it is staffed primar ...

'', the campus newspaper, criticizing the actions of the fraternity. Wu wrote that his depledging was "just one of those cases that are based on a few people's ignorance and prejudice." Psi Upsilon representatives stated that, "Having an

Oriental The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of '' Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the ...

in the house would degrade he fraternityin the eyes of other fraternities and make it more difficult to get dates from the sororities." As then-fraternity president Jack H. Lageschulte put it, "we felt he would be a detriment." Lageschulte also said that all seven other freshmen pledges objected. The Daily Northwestern called for the interfraternity council to investigate the depledging, and the student government of Northwestern University criticized the actions of the fraternity. The Northwestern University branch of the

American Association of University Professors The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States. AAUP membership includes over 500 local campus chapters and 39 state organizations. The AAUP's stated mission ...

issued a statement calling the depledging "completely contrary to the democratic ideals for which the AAUP stands" and "deplorable." Psi Upsilon's action became national news when written about by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' magazine. The actions of the fraternity were criticized by

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American writer, muckraker, political activist and the 1934 Democratic Party nominee for governor of California who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in sever ...

, among others. In the wake of the publicity, two other fraternities offered to pledge Wu. The dean of students, James McLeod, took no action to force the Psi Upsilon to rescind its decision, saying that "the fraternity is a student organization which has its own rules." The president of the university, J. Roscoe Miller, stated that the university would not interfere with the selection of fraternity members. Fraternities at the university continued to practice racial discrimination until the mid-1960s.

Later life

Wu remained at Northwestern, having joined a different fraternity,Andrew Meacham
"Sherman Wu, inspiration for Pete Seeger song, dies,"
''Tampa Bay Times'', May 20, 2010. Retrieved 2012-08-08. and received his bachelor's degree in 1961. He later also received a Master of Science degree in 1963 and a doctorate in 1965, both still at Northwestern. After completing his PhD, Wu worked in various space industries. He contributed to the design of reaction jet control system for the Apollo mission and digital auto-pilot for the ABM and other tactical missiles. He later became a professor at

Marquette University Marquette University () is a private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Martin Henni, the first Bishop of the diocese of ...

in the Department of Electrical Engineering. He married Julianne Lezotte Agnew, a native of Wisconsin and a journalist. Following his retirement, he settled in Clearwater,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

. He died on May 11, 2010, from

esophageal cancer Esophageal cancer is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include difficulty in swallowing and weight loss. Other symptoms may include pain when swallowing, a hoarse voi ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Sherman 1937 births 2010 deaths Deaths from esophageal cancer Marquette University faculty Northwestern University alumni Anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States History of racism in Illinois Deaths from cancer in Florida Chinese emigrants to the United States