University of Oklahoma Fraternity Suspended Over Racist Video Chant
A fraternity at the University of Oklahoma has been suspended after members of the frat were videotaped singing a racist chant about black people and lynching over the weekend.
In the video, members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon are seen clapping, pumping their fists and boisterously singing, "There will never be a n----r SAE. You can hang him from a tree, but he can never sign with me."
The video was reportedly recorded on Saturday as frat members were apparently riding on a coach bus on their way to a party to celebrate their Founder's Day.
An unidentified person then emailed the video on Sunday to the school newspaper and a campus organization, which both publicized the short clip.
"We decided that this was definitely a story they needed to cover without question," said Katelyn Griffith, the print editor of the student newspaper, told CNN. "This was something that we knew wouldn't be tolerated by the students at OU and the university at large."
Unheard, a campus organization founded in response to the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, also published the recording in order to "let our community and our university know that this behavior is not tolerated, that's it's unacceptable and it's extremely, extremely offensive," said the group's co-director, Chelsea Davis.
Following the release of the video, the president of the University of Oklahoma announced that the fraternity has been permanently suspended from the campus and called for the expulsion of the fraternity members who participated in the racist chant.
"The house will be closed, and as far as I'm concerned, they won't be back," said university President David Boren. The members were also told that they have until midnight Tuesday to remove their personal belongings from out of their frat house, Boren said in a news conference on Monday.
SAE's national chapter also took action against the local frat by suspending the members and threatening lifelong suspensions for anyone responsible for the chant.
In addition, hip hop artist Waka Flocka Flame canceled an upcoming performance at the University of Oklahoma in light of the video, reports Spin. "Racism is something I will not tolerate," he wrote in a statement released on his Instagram page.
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