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[h=4]Oklahoma students protest fraternity's racist video[/h]The University of Oklahoma chapter of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity will close and its members will be suspended after the group's national headquarters said a video of members participating in a racist chant was posted online.
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Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity closed its University of Oklahoma chapter after a video surfaced online showing members participating in a racist chant. The black student group that released the video says their source wants to remain anonymous. VPC
A You Tube video released on March 8 shows members of the Oklahoma chapter of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity singing a racial chant using the n-word.(Photo: Unheard Movement via YouTube)
University of Oklahoma President David Boren on Monday joined hundreds of students protesting a video apparently showing Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity members at the Norman campus participating in a racist chant.
After the rally, Boren tweeted a statement saying all ties between the university and the SAE chapter were severed "effective immediately."
"To those who have misused their free speech in such a reprehensible way, I have a message for you. You are disgraceful," Boren said. "You have violated all that we stand for. You should not have the privilege of calling yourself 'Sooners.'"
Boren added that the school will become "an example to the entire country of how to deal with this issue. There must be zero tolerance for racism everywhere in our nation."
SAE's national headquarters said Sunday night that an investigation had confirmed that it was local SAE members on the video chanting a racial slur against blacks and indicating that blacks would never be admitted to the fraternity's chapter in Norman. The chant also references lynching.
SAE issued a statement saying the fraternity chapter at the school has been closed and its members suspended from the national organization. SAE apologized for the video and said it did not reflect the views of its 15,000 members nationwide.
"We are disgusted that any member would act in such a way," the statement said. "Furthermore, we are embarrassed by this video and offer our empathy not only to anyone outside the organization who is offended but also to our brothers who come from a wide range of backgrounds, cultures and ethnicities."
On Monday, the building had been vandalized with graffiti. On one side of the building, in huge letters, was written "Tear it D." Two unidentified chapter members told The Oklahoma Daily, the student newspaper, that they had received death threats.
The video was posted online by a black student group at OU, Unheard. It wasn't immediately clear how it was obtained.
University President David Boren tweeted a statement Sunday night condemning the video and saying the university was investigating.
"I have been informed of the video, which shows students engaging in a racist chant. We are investigating to determine if the video involved OU students," Boren said. "If OU students are involved, this behavior will not be tolerated and will be addressed very quickly. If the reports are true, the chapter will no longer remain on campus. This behavior is reprehensible and contrary to all of our values."
The national fraternity's decision to close came on the same day thousands of people gathered in Selma, Ala., to mark the 50th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," a day in 1965 when peaceful protesters marching for voting rights were beaten by police.
OU is a state school with 30,000 students, two-thirds of them undergraduates. Almost two-thirds of the student body is white, about 5% is black with the rest other minority groups. Norman, the state's third-largest city, has a population of about 120,000 people and is located just about in the center of the state.
USA TODAY
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