Sherman Wu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sherman H. Wu (born 1937) is a Chinese-American social activist and a former professor. He was born in China to K.C. Wu, a Chinese politican, and Edith Huang Wu.[1]
Sherman Wu is best known because of the song "The Ballad of Sherman Wu", which appeared on the Pete Seeger recording Gazette. The lyrics to the song are available at The Mudcat Cafe.
Wu attempted to pledge at the Psi Upsilon fraternity at Northwestern University 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.[2] Psi Upsilon representatives stated that, "Having an Oriental in the house would degrade [the fraternity] in the eyes of other fraternities and make it more difficult to get dates from the sororities." [3] As then-fraternity president Jack H. Lagenschulte put it, "we felt he would be a detriment." Lagenschulte also said that all seven other freshmen pledges objected. [4]
Psi Upsilon's action became national news when written about by Time magazine. Wu's experience was commented on by Upton Sinclair, among others. [5] In the wake of the publicity, two other fraternities offered to pledge Wu. [6] The dean of students at the time, James McLeod, took no action to force the Psi Upsilon to rescind its decision.[4] Fraternities at the university continued to practice racial discimination until the mid-1960s. [3]
Wu remained at Northwestern and received his bachelor's degree in 1961. He later also a received a master of science degree in 1963 and a doctorate in 1965, both still at Northwestern. [7] After completing his PhD, Wu became a professor at Marquette University in the Department of Electrical Engineering.[8] Following his retirement, he settled in Clearwater, Florida.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Obituaries: Edith Huang Wu"; Savannah Morning News, August 25, 2002. ([1])
- ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,824580,00.html
- ^ a b Pridmore, Jay (2000). Northwestern University: Celebrating 150 Years. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 197. ISBN 0-810-11829-7.
- ^ a b "Formosan Ousted by U.S. Frat", Oakland Tribune, October 31, 1956.
- ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,808700-3,00.html
- ^ Daniels, Roger (1990). Asian America: Chinese and Japanese in the United States Since 1850. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press, 300. ISBN 0-295-97018-9.
- ^ http://www.dailynorthwestern.com/media/storage/paper853/news/2006/10/30/Forum/Letters.To.The.Editor-2408790-page2.shtml
- ^ Wu, Sherman; Anthony Sances, Jr.. "Nonlinear Mathematical Model of Isometric Muscle Twitch". Abstracts Annual Meeting, 117, Biophysical Society.
- http://alumni.northwestern.edu/1958/memories.html
- Wu, Sherman (1980). "Digital Filter Design and Stability of a Predictor-Corrector Integration". Annual Simulation Symposium, Proceedings of the 13th Annual Symposium on Simulation, 247-256, Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press.
