University severs ties with frat after racist chant caught on video

Associated Press

NORMAN, Okla.

The president of the University of Oklahoma severed the school’s ties with a national fraternity Monday and ordered that its on-campus house be shuttered after several members took part in a racist chant caught on video.

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 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.

Boren attended a pre-dawn rally organized by students and lambasted the 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.”

National leaders of Sigma Alpha Epsilon said late Sunday it would close the local chapter. The national group said it was “embarrassed” by the “unacceptable and racist” behavior.