UW Chancellor John Wiley meets with the Hmong community
Healing of wounds
A forum for understanding and improved relationship
By Heidi M. Pascual
|
"There are 4000 colleges in the country and only 100 are research universities," he informed his audience. "We are known
worldwide as a leader in stem cell research, nanotechnology, biological sciences, medical research, and in computer and
education research."
Wiley then stressed that beyond research and teaching, the UW promotes the "Wisconsin Idea," the blueprint for "everything" the
UW does, which promotes the "improvement of lives." "We strive to encourage civility and respect," he said, and cited how he
challenged freshmen students during orientation programs to "seek out someone very different from you, someone you have not
met before" and give him (Wiley) feedback. "I heard many very inspiring stories from these students."
He added that "it's always comfortable to be with someone like you, but you only learn from someone who thinks differently," and
that was one reason Wiley came to face the Hmong community. He informed the attendees that UW is planning to hire a Hmong to
teach in the fall, and to establish a Hmong Studies Center in consideration of the huge Hmong population in Wisconsin.
When Wiley mentioned that a forum at the UW-Law School was held as an Asian awareness event to encourage cultural
awareness on the campus, the reaction of his audience was immediate: many raised their hands. Many questions and comments
from the audience were generally focused on the hurt created by the Kaplan incident. A Hmong veteran rose to say that the Hmong
contributions in the fight against the communist forces during the Vietnam War have been forgotten. Wiley's response was, "I think
that's a mistake; not everyone has forgotten. We have a community of thousands. That's never the case."
Responding to Henry Yang's accusation of racism ("not academic freedom") in regard to the UW's treatment of the Kaplan case,
Wiley said, "One individual appeared to be disrespectful to the Hmong; but you should not feel singled out. We have a lot of people
and many words that are offensive to someone -- I'm not trying to minimize it or deny it. These do happen; (but) use it as an example.
People should be careful with how to communicate with one another." On Yang's comment about CBS dismissing Don Imus for
racist remarks and the UW not doing anything with Prof. Kaplan, Wiley said, "There are some things in the university that are
different. All ideas are explored. The remedy to bad speech is more speech. We are open to all ideas, and we talk about them."
Responding to a Hmong student who asked the Chancellor to recommend other schools where Hmong students can enroll, Wiley
appealed instead, "Come to the UW and help us educate White students from rural Wisconsin and those from inner cities of
Chicago, New York, and those from Africa or Hong Kong!" Wiley told of his own experience as a student who encountered students
different from him only when he was already in college. "And at that time, segregation was legal," he said. "(Meeting other students)
was a viable part of my education. Come to the UW-Madison and be part of someone else's education."
Kabzuag Vaj came in full force with Freedom Inc. staff and the youth participants of her programs wearing black or white t-shirts
with FI logo on them. She began her comments by thanking Wiley for coming and said, "We encourage our Hmong youth to go to
school. But when the Kaplan incident happened, we all were hurt." Vaj demanded a public apology from the Chancellor as a first
step in the healing process, but Wiley said carefully, "Sometimes, things seem easy to do, but complicated. As Chancellor of UW, I
have to seek legal advice as to what I can say and what I can't say. I am often constrained due to legal reasons.
"I regret ... I apologize to you that this happened and I apologize in advance, but I can't promise that this will not happen again.
There is something in the human nature (that we have no control of). The UW recognizes differences -- and we try to learn from
them."
As to the information Wiley shared that Prof. Jane Hamilton Meritt will speak about Hmong concerns at the UW convocation on
September 28, several folk raised their objections and suggested that a Hmong scholar be chosen to speak on behalf of the Hmong
community instead. Wiley clarified that the UW Hmong students organized the event and chose their speaker. With the Hmong
community's strong reaction against it, Asian Wisconzine will not be surprised if a petition should reach the organizers.
There were several more comments that expressed the general feeling of hurt and "being treated differently" by the university, but
the forum actually brought hope for the gradual healing of "cultural wounds" by Wiley's presence and willingness to improve
relationships with the Hmong community.
Vue wrapped the meeting up by requesting Wiley to let the Hmong community "be part of your plan to implement the Hmong
Studies Center. Let us help you bring in Hmong resources to the UW. And we hope to hear from you again!"
In a first-ever town-hall type meeting between
University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor John
Wiley and the Hmong community in Madison last
July 26, hopes were high for an improved
relationship between the UW and the Hmong
population -- a relationship that was recently
strained by the UW-Law School/Kaplan incident
early this year.
Held at the United Asian Services of Wisconsin
meeting hall, the Question and Answer forum
was moderated by Mai Zong Vue, a Hmong
community activist and immigrant specialist at the
State Department of Workforce Development.
More than 100 Hmong adults and students in the
area attended the meeting. Vue also translated in
Hmong and English for everyone to understand
what was being said.
After a brief introduction of Chancellor Wiley by
Vue, Wiley elaborated on his personal
background, why he came to pursue graduate
studies at UW-Madison, and how he ended up
working there for over 40 years. He gave an
overview of the university, focusing on its history,
fields of study, and global reputation as a foreign
language university and leader in research.
(Above) UW-Madison
Chancellor John Wiley
explains why UW is known
all over the world as one of
the top universities of
learning; (top right) his
audience from the Hmong
community listen intently;
(below right) United Asian
Services Director Koua
Vang, MaiZong Vue, UW
Chancellor Wiley, Peng
Her, and Fouchou Thao