NORMAN, Okla. (AP) – The president of the University of Oklahoma lambasted members of a fraternity on Monday who participated in a racist chant caught on video, calling them disgraceful and their behavior reprehensible, and ordered that their house be vacated by midnight.
President David Boren joined students at a pre-dawn rally on the Norman campus, just hours after Sigma Alpha Epsilon said an investigation confirmed the contents of the online video. The video shows several people chanting a racial slur and indicating blacks would never be admitted to the fraternity. The chant also references lynching.
“These people have acted in a way that’s absolutely reprehensible and disgraceful,” Boren said. “Real Sooners are not bigots, racists.”
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 tomorrow” to remove their personal belongings from the fraternity house.
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.