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." 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. The Daily Northwestern called for the interfraternity council to investigate the depledging, and the student government of Northwestern University criticized the actions of the fraternity. The Northwestern University branch of the
American Association of University Professors issued a statement calling the depledging "completely contrary to the democratic ideals for which the AAUP stands" and "deplorable." Psi Upsilon's action became national news when written about by
Time magazine. The actions of the fraternity were criticized by
Upton Sinclair, among others. In the wake of the publicity, two other fraternities offered to pledge Wu. The dean of students, James McLeod, took no action to force the Psi Upsilon to rescind its decision, saying that "the fraternity is a student organization which has its own rules." The president of the university,
J. Roscoe Miller, stated that the university would not interfere with the selection of fraternity members. Fraternities at the university continued to practice racial discrimination until the mid-1960s. ==Later life==