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Univ. of Oklahoma severs ties with frat after racist chant

Hatuey

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Univ. of Oklahoma severs ties with frat after racist chant

President David Boren said he was sickened and couldn't eat or sleep after learning about the video Sunday afternoon. The video, which was posted online, 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.

The Oklahoma football team decided to protest rather than practice on Monday. At the team's indoor practice facility, coach Bob Stoops led the way as players, joined by athletic director Joe Castiglione, walked arm-in-arm, wearing black. Meanwhile, a top high school recruit withdrew his commitment to the university after seeing the video.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In 1982 SAE members at the University of Cincinnati were suspended for a racially demeaning party corresponding with Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday.[SUP][17][/SUP] In 2013 SAE members at Washington University in St. Louis were suspended for singing racial slurs to African American Students.[SUP][18][/SUP] In 2014, SAE members at Clemson University were suspended for throwing a racially charged, "Cripmas" party.[SUP][19][/SUP] In 2014, SAE members at the University of Arizona were suspended for attacking Jewish students.[SUP][20][/SUP]

They're trying to fool people into believing that racism isn't part of this fraternity. It most certainly looks like it. It just took unquestionable video evidence and the school's money makers (athletes) leaving for them to take notice.
 
Univ. of Oklahoma severs ties with frat after racist chant



Sigma Alpha Epsilon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



They're trying to fool people into believing that racism isn't part of this fraternity. It most certainly looks like it. It just took unquestionable video evidence and the school's money makers (athletes) leaving for them to take notice.

Cell phones with cameras on them have been around enough for people to start realizing everything they say and do will probably show up on YouTube. There's no doubt this Frat had a history, but this video was so stupid and offensive I doubt even they wanted it made public.
 
The thought police at it again.....
 
Are these guys guilty of anything other than being dicks?
 
The thought police at it again.....
One can think whatever they want. It's probably best not to speak those thoughts so loudly when people are filming and your education is at stake. You get back from life what you put out there.
 
One can think whatever they want. It's probably best not to speak those thoughts so loudly when people are filming and your education is at stake. You get back from life what you put out there.

I don't think they were kicked out of school.
 
The thought police at it again.....

Thought police? The hell? So an organization severing ties with another organization that poorly represents it is being thought police? Do we all have to keep every social connection open until the end of time, no matter what?

If a church severed ties with a secular aid organization for that organization's stance on homosexuality, is the church being 'the thought police'?Ridiculous.
 
My point is that you never know. Depending on a schools policy, why risk such asshattery.

Being a dick shouldn't prevent you from getting an education. In fact, that's the best recipe.
 
Thought police? The hell? So an organization severing ties with another organization that poorly represents it is being thought police? Do we all have to keep every social connection open until the end of time, no matter what?

If a church severed ties with a secular aid organization for that organization's stance on homosexuality, is the church being 'the thought police'?Ridiculous.

More like the *vengeance of political correctness. Since when is there punishment for being a racist? When will the Black fraternity with their *shooting crackers song be punished. [assuming they have one]
 
More like the *vengeance of political correctness. Since when is there punishment for being a racist? When will the Black fraternity with their *shooting crackers song be punished. [assuming they have one]

Since when is someone immune from the criticism and decisions of other people? Last time I checked being a racist isn't a protected class. If you think this is wrong you're free to start a protest campaign.

A college not sponsoring an organization that makes it look horrible isn't being politically correct, it's simply acting in the best interest of the college. Is a church succumbing to political correctness by not associating with pro-SSM organizations?
 
Is a church succumbing to political correctness by not associating with pro-SSM organizations?

Exactly!

These are the same people that argue that people that violate public accommodation laws are having their right to association infringed.

But in this case between two private entities as soon as the word nigger is involved its like, their rights are being violated, the poor things.
 
Exactly!

These are the same people that argue that people that violate public accommodation laws are having their right to association infringed.

But in this case between two private entities as soon as the word nigger is involved its like, their rights are being violated, the poor things.

Well, we know why. ;)
 
Are these guys guilty of anything other than being dicks?

Probably not, the vote is still out on that one. Depends on how far they took it, and what they did within their chapter. We may never know it all.

But we have an obvious problem here, the assumption that freedom of speech means absence of responsibility of it. That is far from the truth, they are clearly responsible for their actions and we should support the University of Oklahoma for abandoning the university chapter. Given the history of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, we have some valid concerns. Sure, they are free to be dicks all they want but there is still consequence.

If anything, once they are all identified, they should be offered the very education to unlearn the motivations behind this asinine video. But that will not happen in today's PC world, there will be calls for individual expulsion. So be it, they are still free to run around being racist dicks and we are still free to respond to their behavior.
 
More like the *vengeance of political correctness. Since when is there punishment for being a racist? When will the Black fraternity with their *shooting crackers song be punished. [assuming they have one]

Why don't you act like a racist at work today and see how that goes. I am assuming there would be no punishment of any kind, right?
 
They're trying to fool people into believing that racism isn't part of this fraternity. It most certainly looks like it. It just took unquestionable video evidence and the school's money makers (athletes) leaving for them to take notice.

This is the university that I attend and this has been a very public and nonstop news report on our local channels. I'm very impressed with how (OU President) David Boren has been handling this so far. Usually when situations of this nature (whether it be racism, sexism, LGBT community situations, etc) occur in this state, immediately the reaction is to support the offenders and say that the victims are at fault. I was happy to see David immediately severe ties with this fraternity and suspend the students, removing them from the fraternity and shutting the house down. I still don't know how I would like to see them handle the individual students because it was a "date night" and it's very, very possible that a good amount of the students on the bus did not agree with this, nor did they want to be apart of it, and in that case it wouldn't be fair to punish those students. At the same time... I don't know. I just am not sure how I'd like to see them handle individual students. This is just a very interesting story and I'm glad to see the university so publicly supporting an end to racism and hope this will open doors for future universities to follow suit.

Cell phones with cameras on them have been around enough for people to start realizing everything they say and do will probably show up on YouTube. There's no doubt this Frat had a history, but this video was so stupid and offensive I doubt even they wanted it made public.

The only people that I do feel sorry for are previous fraternity members that have, in fact, actually been roommates with African Americans that were within this fraternity. Or for any fraternity members that are not racist in nature and are trapped in the middle of this problem. If they really didn't want something like this to become public than they shouldn't have been singing something so aggressively racist and violent. I will agree that it's possible that these students weren't really thinking about it since it is an old chant, but that still doesn't make it acceptable.

Are these guys guilty of anything other than being dicks?

It's a representation of the University of Oklahoma that was partnered with SAE. The students were irresponsible, made bad choices, and a video was released that suggested that the University of Oklahoma approved of such behavior because they were tied to SAE students that thought this was okay. The choice to severe ties and shut that house down needed to happen because racism of this nature is not isolated in this state. This behavior happens daily on campus (and I'm not just referring to racism against African Americans) and this move to put a heavy foot down against racism was needed to have the door open to successfully handling any act that happens in the future.

I don't think they were kicked out of school.

They were suspended and David Boren is contemplating the idea of removing some of these students involved with the video from the University of Oklahoma. Last I heard no final decisions have been made yet.

More like the *vengeance of political correctness. Since when is there punishment for being a racist? When will the Black fraternity with their *shooting crackers song be punished. [assuming they have one]

As far as I know there is not an all African American fraternity on the campus that has a chant that supports "shooting crackers," but this move to cut ties with a fraternity that shows this sort of racism today allows for the university to cut ties with another fraternity (or sorority) in the future (from any race) that suggests a support of racism.

Exactly!

These are the same people that argue that people that violate public accommodation laws are having their right to association infringed.

But in this case between two private entities as soon as the word nigger is involved its like, their rights are being violated, the poor things.

I disagree with this. This isn't about the University of Oklahoma saying that black people can do whatever they want and white people have to walk on eggshells or being punished. This is about a university taking a stand against racism... period. If another fraternity comes out with a video that shows African Americans chanting about lynching and killing white people, the same cut ties, suspensions, and actions would be taken.

People are jumping too fast on this "poor white boys" attitude without really paying attention to David Boren's message overall. Racism, period, is unacceptable.
 
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This is the university that I attend and this has been a very public and nonstop news report on our local channels. I'm very impressed with how (OU President) David Boren has been handling this so far. Usually when situations of this nature (whether it be racism, sexism, LGBT community situations, etc) occur in this state, immediately the reaction is to support the offenders and say that the victims are at fault. I was happy to see David immediately severe ties with this fraternity and suspend the students, removing them from the fraternity and shutting the house down. I still don't know how I would like to see them handle the individual students because it was a "date night" and it's very, very possible that a good amount of the students on the bus did not agree with this, nor did the want to be apart of it, and in that case it wouldn't be fair to punish those students. At the same time... I don't know. I just am not sure how I'd like to see them handle individual students. This is just a very interesting story and I'm glad to see the university so publicly supporting an end in racism and hope this will open door for future universities to follow suit.

Hello Laur, can you tell us your personal opinion on the fraternity itself? Are they people you'd associate with?
 
You don't have a right to education. Isn't that right, conservatives? This is the free market playing out.
 
Hello Laur, can you tell us your personal opinion on the fraternity itself? Are they people you'd associate with?

I honestly cannot. I have not had any associations with any of the members of this group. I live hours away from the campus and my degree plans is completely online so I do not have dealings with sororities or fraternities residing on the campus. This is why I have mixed emotions about what should happen to the individual students. I don't know them, I don't know the full situation (aside from it was SAE date night that included girls that were not a part of the fraternity themselves), and I'm not sure why this actually happened.

I just know that overall I (and a vast majority of the student base at the University of Oklahoma) appreciate the actions that David Boren have taken so quickly. If the only result is that ties between OU and SAE are severed and the students go through a short suspension during the investigation of this situation, then it's possible that may be enough punishment. David Boren has stated that as long as he is president of the University this fraternity will never have ties with OU again. I think that's appropriate. It may not be appropriate to remove these students from the university, however. That is the part that I don't know about and don't have opinions about. It's hard to make personal, individual decisions like that from an isolated and short video without knowing the situation that led up to it.
 
how come some people are all about personal responsibility EXCEPT for racists and homophobes?
 
how come some people are all about personal responsibility EXCEPT for racists and homophobes?

"I don't wanna bake a cake for them faggots, that violates my freedom of association as a private business".

Praised by right wing.

Private university dissociates itself from private racist fraternity

"VIOLATION OF FREE SPEECH" says right wing.
 
Univ. of Oklahoma severs ties with frat after racist chant



Sigma Alpha Epsilon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



They're trying to fool people into believing that racism isn't part of this fraternity. It most certainly looks like it. It just took unquestionable video evidence and the school's money makers (athletes) leaving for them to take notice.

I'm all for SAE removing their charter. National organizations have been removing the charters of local chapters of fraternities and sororities for years for many reasons.

When you say or imply(?) that racism is a part of this fraternity, which fraternity are you talking about...the national SAE organiztion, or the University of Oklahoma chapter?
 
The thought police at it again.....

How so? The university has every right to kick this frat out. I would too. Who wants a bunch of backwards morons running around giving a bad name to your school? Well a racist name. Frats do that anyway.
 
"I don't wanna bake a cake for them faggots, that violates my freedom of association as a private business".

Praised by right wing.

Private university dissociates itself from private racist fraternity

"VIOLATION OF FREE SPEECH" says right wing.

UO is a public school. However, even as a public institution, they can set ethical guidelines for their students. They're no different than a federal employer who says you can't wear KKK robes instead of your work uniform.
 
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