WHITEWATER (WKOW) – Tweets mocking Asian men by a UW-Whitewater student instructor spark controversy and response from the school.

"The Dean of Students office has taken the appropriate steps to address this situation," UW-Whitewater spokesperson Jeff Angileri says, citing federal privacy law applying to students in declining to release any specifics.

In January 2017, student Matthew De Starkey tweeted a mocking photo of a man with a bowl on his head, eyes squinted and hands in mock prayer, with the caption, "When your crush says she only dates asians."

When the post recently drew criticism and a photo of a profane gesture was tweeted to De Starkey in response, De Starkey tweeted back, "Short (expletive) finger."

"Referencing the stereotype that Asian men are less endowed," San Francisco attorney and activist Kasie Lee tells 27 News.

"This type of what they call casual racism – jokes – it’s very traumatizing on youth when they’re always the butt of these jokes," Lee says.

Statistics show just 1.7 percent of the UW-Whitewater student population is Asian.

"The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater has a zero tolerance attitude toward any form of discrimination," Angileri writes in a statement.

But Lee says UW-Whitewater should be more specific in its condemnation of the Asian-mocking tweets.

"Something that the Asian community struggles with is getting school districts and getting universities and other institutions to recognize that anti-Asian racism needs to be taken seriously," Lee says.

De Starkey has yet to respond to requests for comment from 27 News through email and Facebook.

The Janesville Gazette reports De Starkey offered an explanation for his 2017 photo and tweet. "I just saw it as a stereotype that’s been around forever," the newspaper reports on De Starkey’s response. "It’s fair for them to be angry and I understand why."

UW-Whitewater lists De Starkey as a Learning Assistant. De Starkey posts that he is a supplemental instructor in Accounting.

Angileri declines comment on whether De Starkey will retain his faculty-supporting position.