University of Wisconsin Law School Dean Ken Davis issued a public apology Thursday after UW-Madison law professor Leonard Kaplan was accused of making racist comments against Hmong people in one of his classes Feb. 15.
Law student Kashia Moua circulated an e-mail to organize a meeting of Hmong law students and UW-Madison administrators Wednesday night—the e-mail contained Kaplan's alleged comments.
According to Moua's e-mail, obtained by the Capital Times, Moua quoted Kaplan saying, ""Hmong men have no talent other than to kill,"" ""All second-generation Hmong end up in gangs and other criminal activity,"" and ""All men purchase their wives, so if he wants to have sex with his wife and she doesn't consent, you and I call it rape, but the Hmong guy is thinking, ‘Man, I paid too much for her!'""
Although Kaplan did not attend the meeting Wednesday night, a forum is being held in the Law School, March 1 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the incident.
""I first heard about it from some of the students in his class who told me their version of his remarks,"" Davis said Thursday. ""They were deeply offended, and I think they had every right to be based upon what they reported.""
Davis said this is the first incident of its kind, but that he has already had several conversations with Kaplan about the comments.
""I have made clear to him that what happened in his classroom is inconsistent with my expectations for our faculty and threatens a number of our core values,"" Davis said, stressing the Law School's commitment to diversity and inclusivity. ""I'm confident that he's heard me and knows exactly how strongly I feel about this.""
Davis also stressed the importance of training law students how to deal with controversial and sensitive cultural issues.
""He was trying to make a very important point about legal formalism and its impact upon various cultures,"" Davis said. ""That said, there's a way to deal with those kinds of topics that gives students multiple critical perspectives so they can learn and make their own judgment and learn to evaluate the information, and I don't think that occurred here.""
Kaplan said he believes there has been a ""major misunderstanding.""
""I'm not trying to stereotype the Hmong in any way,"" Kaplan said. ""I think they're an admirable people who've done extraordinarily well under difficult conditions in integrating in the United States. It's only one of many examples around the world; it's one that's relevant to us here.""
Moua declined to comment Thursday evening but said in an e-mail that she and the other students impacted will issue a press release tonight or over the weekend.
—Erica Pelzek contributed to this report
