A fraternity shut down its chapter at the University of Oklahoma after a video surfaced Sunday night that allegedly showed frat members chanting a racial slur and making a reference to lynching.
Members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity appear to be shown in the video chanting “There will never be a nigger in SAE. You can hang them from a tree, but they’ll never sign with me.”
Racism is alive at The University of Oklahoma. @President_Boren pic.twitter.com/eAvnPD8jxA
— Unheard (@OU_Unheard) March 8, 2015
A black student organization called Unheard tweeted the video at the university’s president, David Boren. While it’s unclear how Unheard obtained the video, the Tulsa World reported that the group said it was filmed Saturday while the frat members travelled to a party.
Boren initially said the university would investigate the incident and called the behavior shown in the video “contrary to all of our values.” He later tweeted an updated statement that said “if the reports are true the chapter will no longer remain on campus.”
If the video is indeed of OU students, this behavior will not be tolerated and is contrary to all of our values. We are investigating. – DBo
— David Boren (@President_Boren) March 9, 2015
Updated statement attached. – DBo pic.twitter.com/xIvnd9otgu
— David Boren (@President_Boren) March 9, 2015
But Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s national headquarters immediately closed its OU chapter after catching wind of the video. The organization said in a statement that all the chapter’s members had been suspended.
“We apologize for the unacceptable and racist behavior of the individuals in the video, and we are disgusted that any member would act in such a way,” the statement read. “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.”
While we correct our server issues, here’s our statement. pic.twitter.com/yOBqubcLFO
— Sigma Alpha Epsilon (@sae1856) March 9, 2015
The SAE house was vandalized later Sunday night, according to the university’s student newspaper, the OU Daily.
It looks like the SAE house has been vandalized. One side of the house reads something like “tear it down.” @OUDaily pic.twitter.com/dZebbDQT2Y
— Dana Branham (@danabranham) March 9, 2015
This post has been updated.
