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[h=4]Video fallout reaches far beyond Oklahoma fraternity[/h]The Greek letters have been removed from the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house and the football team protested instead of practicing as fallout continued from an SAE video of members chanting racist remarks
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The President of the University of Oklahoma announced he's severing ties with the local chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon after several members of the fraternity were caught on camera singing a racist song. VPC
The University of Oklahoma football team and coaches line up wearing all black in the Everest Training Center in protest of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at the University of Oklahoma on Monday, March. 9, 2015.(Photo: Nick Oxford, AP)
Sigma Alpha Epsilon brothers are not the only members of the University of Oklahoma family hammered by fallout from the fraternity's racist hate video.
SAE's black chef is out of a job, a sorority linked to the video is under fire, and OU recruiters have a lot of explaining to do to keep the university on the short list for young athletes and scholars.
School President David Boren has been working tirelessly to repair the damage since the video went viral Sunday. He quickly severed ties with the fraternity and promised a thorough investigation that could result in expulsion of some students from the school.
USA TODAY
Censorship can't cure racism of Oklahoma frat: Column
Fraternity members have until Tuesday night to clear out of the fraternity house.
Boren, speaking Tuesday on CNN, again stressed the school's "zero tolerance for racism and bigotry" message. He said lawyers were trying to determine what actions the school can legally take against the students, particularly those who led and encouraged the chant. At issue: free speech rights vs. prohibition of racial discrimination.
"We are not going to tolerate it, we simply can't," Boren said. "If I have to take a risk by sending kids home... I will do it."
The video posted online Sunday by Unheard, a black student group at OU, shows students on a rented bus singing racial slurs against blacks. The song, which also makes reference to lynching, indicates that blacks would never be admitted to the fraternity's chapter in Norman. The chapter has had black members in the past.
The school's Delta Delta Delta sorority chapter was also feeling heat amid claims that some members were seen chanting in the video. The national office of the sorority issued a statement saying the "behavior documented in the video is deplorable and is in no way consistent with Tri Delta's ideals and core values."
The statement also said the sorority was cooperating with the investigation, but the chapter tweeted late Monday that "We fully support our OU president. We are NOT under investigation. The statement on our website is national protocol."
That drew plenty of sarcastic Twitter replies, including this from Jade.O: "So the #Tridelta racists singing with the #SAE racists- that's okay? Good to know."
The video's victims include Howard Dixon, the fraternity's African-American chef, out of a job after 14 years. SAE alums immediately began raising money for Dixon online, collecting more than $24,000 within hours.
"We used to have so much fun," Dixon told WFAA-TV. "Now it's all gone."
Former Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer, an honorary member of SAE, called the video "just a stupid act with a bunch of damn freshmen out drinking on a bus who will regret this the rest of their life."
The current football team appeared unwilling to dismiss the video so lightly. The team marched in protest Monday, joined by coach Bob Stoops and athletic director Joe Castiglione. The group, dressed in black, said a prayer at midfield but did not hold its scheduled spring practice.
Jennie Carlson, a reporter for The Oklahoman, wrote a column noting that "recruiting just got a whole lot tougher." She discusses high school football player Jean Delance announcing via Twitter that he was decommitting from OU – and quotes at least one current OU player saying he can understand why.
"We're not just talking about recruiting the next five-star running back or the next Big 12 Player of the Year," Carlson wrote. "We're talking about recruiting the next National Merit Scholar or the next University of Oklahoma Student Association president."
The video has drawn national reaction. White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the efforts by the university and the national fraternity to repudiate the racist comments were "an appropriate step."
A rally against the video drew hundreds of students Monday, including Boren. He accused the fraternity members of misusing their right to free speech in a "reprehensible" way and promised that the school will become "an example to the entire country of how to deal with this issue."
USA TODAY COLLEGE
Racist fraternity video leads to student death threats at OU
The fraternity's national organization issued a statement saying the SAE 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.
OU is a state school with almost 30,000 students, about 5% of them black. Immediately after the video was posted, an outpouring of tweets echoed the sentence "Racism is alive at the University of Oklahoma."
Kendall Brown of Oklahoma City tweeted that he was "glad so many are speaking out against SAE's OU chapter-but the convo must go further. The racism is institutional, the chant isn't new."
Contributing: William M. Welch in Los Angeles; Jason Whitely and David Schechter, WFAA in Dallas-Fort Worth
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