Sherman Wu

Sherman Hsiu-huang Wu (1937 – May 11, 2010) was an American social activist and a former professor, whose experiences at Northwestern University 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 civil rights movement.

Wu was born in China to K.C. Wu, a Chinese politician, and Edith Huang . The younger Wu was prevented from leaving Taiwan, where his father had served as governor, after the rest of his family had moved to the United States. K.C. Wu charged that this action was retaliation for his criticisms of the government of Chiang Kai-shek. Eventually, however, Wu was allowed to leave.

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. Wu wrote a letter to The Daily Northwestern, 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 in the house would degrade [the fraternity] in 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.

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