NORMAN, Oklahoma — The president of the University of Oklahoma lambasted members of a fraternity who participated in a racist chant caught on video and ordered that they vacate their house by Tuesday night.
President David Boren said he was sickened and couldn’t eat or sleep after learning about the video Sunday afternoon. It shows several people on a bus participating in a chant that included a racial slur, referenced lynching and indicated black students would never be admitted to OU’s chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
Boren attended a pre-dawn rally organized by students and lambasted those fraternity members as “disgraceful” and called their behavior “reprehensible.” He said the university was looking into a range of punishment, including expulsion.
“This is not who we are,” Boren said at a midday news conference. “I’d be glad if they left. I might even pay the bus fare for them.”
The national fraternity released a statement Sunday night saying it was “embarrassed” by the “unacceptable and racist” behavior. It also said it would close the local chapter.
Boren later released a statement saying members had until midnight Tuesday to remove their personal belongings from the fraternity house. A fraternity is an organization of male college students in the U.S.
A link to the video was posted by OU Unheard, a black student group on campus, after someone anonymously called it to the group’s attention, communications director Alexis Hall said Monday.
