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Calls increase for Purdue Northwest chancellor to step down

Chancellor Thomas Keon made insensitive remarks during commencement at the university earlier this month.

INDIANAPOLIS — Thousands of people have signed a petition calling on the chancellor at Purdue University Northwest to resign. This comes after Chancellor Thomas Keon made offensive remarks during a commencement address earlier this month.

Now the calls for the chancellor to step down are growing even louder this week.

A petition on Change.org has reached more than 5,000 signatures in just a few days.

"It's time to step down and he has to own it. Boilermakers deserve better than this," said Rupal Thanawala, president of Asian American Alliance Inc.

Thanawala said she added her signature to the petition after watching video of a Dec. 10 commencement ceremony for graduates from Purdue's northern campus.

"It was hurtful and such disrespectful behavior from such a joyous occasion. My heart went out to students and families," Thanawala said.

Keon's remarks came right after the ceremony's keynote speaker talked about a pretend language he made up and sometimes uses with his family and on a radio show.

Keon responded with a few lines of gibberish saying they were his Asian version of what the keynote speaker was talking about. 

(NOTE: The video below begins with Chancellor Keon's remarks, which some may find offensive. Click here to view keynote speaker James Dedelow's speech.)

Keon apologized for the remarks in a statement he released last week.

It read, in part:

"I made a comment that was offensive and insensitive. 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 also cited Purdue's diversity, inclusion and outreach initiatives in his apology.

Keon also noted several steps he's taken to foster the university's multicultural environment. 

A Purdue University spokesperson said the university's Board of Trustees is aware of the comments and accepted the chancellor's apology.

"It's absurd and they've really escalated the problem because here you have a chancellor who makes this offensive statement and you've got a Board of Trustees that's saying, 'No big deal,'" said Professor Thomas Roach, chair of the school's faculty senate.

Roach has asked the school's faculty for a no-confidence vote on Keon's continued position as chancellor.

"I'm sure he's going to get a vote of no confidence. I'm sure my colleagues of this university are intolerant of what he did," Roach said.

The latest call for Keon to step down comes after Roach said he personally asked Keon to resign, after hand-delivering a statement from the school's senate executive committee requesting the same thing.

When that didn't happen by Monday, Roach said it was time to take the next step.

"We're not going to let this go until it's resolved," Roach said, explaining that for him and other faculty members his consulted, resolution will come when Keon is no longer the school's chancellor.

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