2015 University of Oklahoma Sigma Alpha Epsilon racism incident

none April 2020 The University of Oklahoma Sigma Alpha Epsilon racist incident, known as SAE-OU racist chant incident, occurred on March 7, 2015, when members of the University of Oklahoma (OU) chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) were filmed performing a racist song that used the word "nigger" and referenced Jim Crow. After a video of the incident was published, the SAE's OU chapter was closed and two of its members were expelled. Incident On March 7, 2015, two videos were recorded of SAE members and their dates riding on a chartered bus to the Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club, where an event celebrating the national organization's Founder's Day was being held. In the video the students are heard singing a chant to the tune of the nursery rhyme "If You're Happy and You Know It". Below is how the chant was sung: There will never be a nigger at SAE, There will never be a nigger at SAE, You can hang 'em from a tree, But they'll never sign with me, There will never be a nigger at SAE. In addition to the use of the word "nigger", the chant also referenced two key elements of the Jim Crow era through the lines "You can hang 'em from a tree" and "but he'll/they'll never sign with me", which respectively allude to lynching and racial segregation, with the latter being in the form of denying admission for minorities, particularly African Americans, into the fraternity.University of Oklahoma president evicts Sigma Alpha Epsilon brothers from campus frat house after racist video Meg Wagner March 10, 2015 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ou-president-evicts-sigma-alpha-epsilon-frat-house-article-1.2142516 New York Daily NewsJake New March 8, 2015 https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/03/09/fraternity-caught-video-singing-racist-song Fraternity Caught on Video Singing Racist Song InsideHigherEd.com March 12, 2015 The video of the incident was reported on by The Oklahoma Daily on Sunday March 8, and also posted online by student group OU Unheard.https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/09/university-oklahoma-fraternity-racism-bigots Oklahoma fraternity's 'racists and bigots' condemned as protests grow Jessica Glenza The Guardian March 9, 2015 Beauton Gilbow video An additional video emerged showing the fraternity's house mother, Beauton Gilbow, using the same word "nigger" while singing along to a rap song at the fraternity in 2013.https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/11/us/university-of-oklahoma-sigma-alpha-epsilon-racist-fraternity-video.html As Two Oklahoma Students Are Expelled for Racist Chant, Sigma Alpha Epsilon Vows Wider Inquiry The New York Times March 11, 2015 March 11, 2015 Manny Fernandez Richard Pérez-Peña Gilbow later stated that she was singing along at the time to rapper Trinidad James' song "All Gold Everything", which repeatedly uses the same word, and apologized for any offense.http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/beauton-gilbow-statement-rap-video Fraternity 'Mom' Is 'Heartbroken' Over Video That Shows Her Singing N-Word Talking Points Memo Catherine Thompson March 11, 2015 March 11, 2015 Aftermath SAE chapter closure On March 8, 2015, the national office of Sigma Alpha Epsilon disbanded the OU chapter and revoked the membership of its members, rendering them expelled from the national organization. Simultaneously, OU officials ordered the closure of the chapter house and gave SAE members until the end of March 10, 2015 to move out.McLaughlin Eliott C. 'Disgraceful' University of Oklahoma fraternity shuttered after racist chant http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/09/us/oklahoma-fraternity-chant/ March 13, 2015 cnn.com CNN March 10, 2015http://www.oudaily.com/news/parker-rice-identified-as-student-expelled-from-ou-after-racist/article_424a63fc-c74c-11e4-8f34-03aacf374cdb.html Parker Rice identified as student expelled from OU after racist chant OU Daily OU Staff March 10, 2015 March 10, 2015 Two days later, the fraternity's Greek letters were removed from the house and a padlock was placed on the facility's gate. Officials also blocked off the parking lot with barriers and caution tape and changed the locks.http://www.oudaily.com/news/sigma-alpha-epsilon-members-remove-last-of-their-belongings-from/article_6646e9de-c7b4-11e4-9719-bb5ce1fa2405.html Sigma Alpha Epsilon members remove last of their belongings from frat house OU Daily Daisy Creager March 11, 2015 March 11, 2015 At a March 18 press conference, the national SAE office apologized and vowed to promote diversity.http://m.ibtimes.com/sigma-alpha-epsilon-apology-announcement-sae-fraternity-vows-promote-diversity-after-1851198 Sigma Alpha Epsilon Apology Announcement: SAE Fraternity Vows To Promote Diversity After Racist Chant Video March 18, 2015 International Business Times Cristina Silva The fraternity strongly denied that members had been taught the song, and stated they were investigating additional racist incidents.https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/03/11/sigma-alpha-epsilon-says-its-investigating-additional-racist-incidents/ Sigma Alpha Epsilon says it's investigating additional racist 'incidents' March 11, 2015 Fred Barbash The Washington Post Elsewhere, the University of Texas said it was looking into claims the chant was used by SAE members there.http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-oklahoma-fraternity-racist-chant-20150311-story.html LA Times Racist fraternity chant may not be limited to University of Oklahoma March 11, 2015 Hailey Branson-Potts Nigel Duara Matt Pearce Students expelled University of Oklahoma president David Boren ordered the expulsion of the two students who led the chant, Michael Levi Pettithttps://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/levi-pettit-frat-member-sae-racist-chant-video-deeply-sorry-n330226 Levi Pettit, Frat Member in SAE Racist Chant Video, 'Deeply Sorry' NBC News March 25, 2015 and Parker Rice. Through two letters addressed to them, Boren justified their expulsions on the grounds that they "played a leadership role" in creating "an extremely hostile learning environment".http://www.ibtimes.com/university-oklahoma-racist-fraternity-video-2-sae-students-expelled-leadership-role-1842412 University Of Oklahoma Racist Fraternity Video: 2 SAE Students Expelled For 'Leadership Role' Julia Glum March 10, 2015 International Business Times https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/levi-pettit-frat-member-sae-racist-chant-video-deeply-sorry-n330226 Levi Pettit, Ex-OU Student in SAE Racist Chant Video, 'Deeply Sorry' March 25, 2015 March 25, 2015 NBC News The action taken by the university was based on school's Student Rights & Responsibilities Code. http://www.ou.edu/content/dam/studentlife/documents/AllCampusStudentCode.pdf Student Rights and Responsibilities Code 2014-2015 September 19, 2011 March 11, 2015 www.ou.edu University of Oklahomahttp://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-oklahoma-university-frat-free-speech-sigma-alpha-epsoilon-perspec-0312-20150311-story.html Balancing the First Amendment vs. racist chants at the University of Oklahoma Feldman Noah Noah Feldman March 11, 2015 Chicago Tribune March 14, 2015Is University of Oklahoma frat's racist chant protected by 1st Amendment? Matt Pearce http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-oklahoma-fraternity-explainer-20150310-story.html#page=1 LA Times March 10, 2015 Rice and Pettit, both Dallas natives, enrolled in the Austin and Dallas branches of the University of Texas, respectively. In a later conference, Boren confirmed the two students would not return to the University and, at one point, offered to pay for their bus fares home. The Los Angeles Times reported that Boren appeared to be alluding to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which bans racial discrimination at universities receiving federal money. However, the expulsions may have been a violation of the students' first amendment rights. First Amendment law specialist and UCLA Law professor Eugene Volokh asserted that President Boren's actions were unconstitutional.Volokh Eugene No, a public university may not expel students for racist speech https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/03/10/no-a-public-university-may-not-expel-students-for-racist-speech/ The Volokh Conspiracy The Washington Post March 10, 2015 March 10, 2015 Oklahoma State University media law associate professor Joey Senat stated that the chant was offensive but is still protected free speech.http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-oklahoma-fraternity-fallout-20150310-story.html Los Angeles Times March 10, 2015 March 10, 2015 Expelled University of Oklahoma student in racist chant video 'deeply sorry' Hailey Branson-Potts Matt Pearce Glenn Reynolds, a professor of law at the University of Tennessee, expressed the opinion that as a former U.S. senator, Boren should have known that the university was breaking the law in expelling the two students.Glenn Harlan Reynolds https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/03/15/ou-oklahoma-frat-race-free-speech-column/24808377/ OU broke the law to avoid bad press USA Today Boren's behavior was not only illegal — and clearly so — it was also a betrayal of the duty of fairness that he, as a university president, owes to every student enrolled in his university. March 17, 2015 March 20, 2015 A Washington Post article reported that a Sigma Chi fraternity successfully challenged similar action taken against them by George Mason University in 1992.https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/03/11/expelled-oklahoma-students-have-an-excellent-chance-of-succeeding-if-they-sue/ Why expelled Oklahoma frat boys would have an 'excellent chance' in court March 11, 2015 Terrence McCoy The Washington Post March 17, 2015 On March 13, alumni on the board of OU's SAE chapter hired civil rights attorney Stephen Jones to look into the legal issues involving the chapter's suspension and eviction of members from its fraternity house at OU campus.Ohlheiser Abby Sigma Alpha Epsilon 'not ruling out a lawsuit' against Oklahoma University, says lawyer https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/03/13/reports-ous-sigma-alpha-epsilon-fraternity-plans-to-sue-the-university/ March 13, 2015 The Washington Post March 13, 2015 The national office of SAE stated that it was not involved in retaining Mr. Jones and was unaware of his intentions, and that board officials with the OU local chapter had stopped communicating with them since the chapter was closed on March 9.http://www.sae.net/oklahoma Statement in Response to March 13 Stephen Jones Press Conference SAE Media Statement March 13, 2015 March 13, 2015 http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2015/03/13/oklahoma-fraternity-racist-video/70270048/ Oklahoma fraternity chapter hires high-profile attorney Associated Press The Detroit News March 13, 2015 March 13, 2015 On March 25, Levi Pettit apologized publicly for his actions.https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/03/25/levi-pettit-oklahoma-university/70448880/ Expelled University of Oklahoma student offers apology USA Today March 25, 2015 March 25, 2015 Eversley, Melanie Parker Rice issued an apology earlier on March 10, 2015, and added that he led the chant under the influence of alcohol, while also stating that the chant was "taught to them". Protesters later gathered outside the Rice family home in Dallas and protested his apology as "not genuine". In response to Rice's apology, an anonymous member of the chapter who was present in the chapter house on the day of the incident but absent from the bus during the chanting, confirmed in an interview that the students and members of the chapter seen in the video were drinking alcohol in the chapter house before the incident. OU president Boren suspected that the chant was learned on the fraternity's leadership cruise but the SAE national headquarters issued a statement that the chant is not one of their sanctioned songs and they would never allow such chant to be sung, stating that any member or chapter who adopts hostile chants are dealt with severe punishment. However, both the national headquarters and Boren state that the chant was informally shared during the leadership cruise by other members. Reactions Several SAE chapters across the United States such as those from, but not limited to Harvard, Yale, Connecticut, Dartmouth College, Oregon State University, and North Dakota, jointly condemned the incident and applauded OU and SAE National Headquarters for taking steps in disbanding the chapter. The SAE-OU chapter's only two African-American alumni, medical sales businessman Jonathon Davis and lawyer William Bruce James II, defended the house mother, Beauton Gilbow, over her actions while also voicing their support for the chapter's closure. Davis has stated that his co-members in the chapter would have never allowed discriminatory behavior to take place while James echoed Davis' statements and stated that he disowns the people in the videos.Botelho Greg Black U. of Oklahoma SAE alumnus: 'They are not my brothers' https://www.cnn.com/2015/03/10/us/oklahoma-fraternity-black-member/index.html CNN March 10, 2015 18 July 2024Yan Holly Black SAE alumni defend frat house mom who sang the n-word https://www.cnn.com/2015/03/11/us/oklahoma-fraternity-house-mom/index.html CNN March 11, 2015 18 July 2024 Meanwhile, a student from the rival Oklahoma State University, who also bears the name Parker Rice, became the subject of hate mail and death threats in a case of mistaken identity. Unlike the Parker Rice in the racist chant who was a Dallas native, the other Parker Rice was a native of Oklahoma and was an electronics engineering graduate of OSU who had returned to the same institution to study an Asian Studies course majoring in Japanese as a preparation for his move to Japan. He indicates his membership at the Oklahoma State University chapter of the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity while condemning the racist chant incident. The Oklahoma-native Rice later posted on social media that he has no connection to SAE and that he was not the Parker Rice in the video.The 'Other' Parker Rice: How The OU Scandal Trapped A Student With The Same Name In response to the video the Oklahoma Sooners college football team held arm-in-arm protest vigils instead of attending practice.ESPN ESPN https://www.espn.com/blog/big12/post/_/id/97130/sae-video-scandal-could-galvanize-oklahoma-sooners SAE video scandal could galvanize Sooners Jake Trotter March 16, 2015 Several news media reports highlighted the fact that SAE, which was founded before the American Civil War in the South had a history of discriminatory incidents.http://www.slate.com/articles/life/inside_higher_ed/2015/03/behind_the_chant_discrimination_at_oklahoma_s_sae_chapter_goes_deeper_than.html Jake New The Ugly, Racist, Deadly History of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Slate March 13, 2015https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2015/0314/University-of-Oklahoma-fraternity-has-history-of-racist-incidents-elsewhere-video University of Oklahoma fraternity has history of racist incidents elsewhere Christian Science Monitor Brad Knickerbocker March 14, 2015https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/03/11/us/ap-us-sae-profile.html Fraternity in Racist Video Has Roots in Antebellum South March 11, 2015 The New York Times The Associated Press https://web.archive.org/web/20150403134300/https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/03/11/us/ap-us-sae-profile.html April 3, 2015 Robby Soave of the Reason Foundation wrote that the OU had failed to expel a freshman football player "caught on tape punching a female student in the face" in 2014. He concluded, "if anybody was going to be railroaded off campus without so much as a hearing, you would think it might be perpetrators of actual violence, rather than perpetrators of offensive speech (which is not actually a category of crime)."Robby Soave http://reason.com/blog/2015/03/12/oklahoma-u-expels-racist-students-but-no Oklahoma U. Expels Racist Students, But Not Violent Football Players reason.com Reason Foundation March 12, 2015 Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough of Morning Joe television show blamed the fraternity brothers' use of the word on hip hop music.Meg Wagner http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/morning-joe-hosts-blame-racist-sae-video-rap-music-article-1.2145443 'Morning Joe' hosts blame racist Sigma Alpha Epsilon video on rap music The New York Daily News March 11, 2015 Actor and Delta Tau Delta alum Will Ferrell said the incident might be an argument to end the entire college fraternity system. "The incident in Oklahoma, that is a real argument for getting rid of the system altogether, in my opinion, even having been through a fraternity," he told The New York Times.Murphy Mekado http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/17/sxsw-2015-will-ferrell-answers-readers-questions/ SXSW 2015: Will Ferrell Discusses Fraternities, 'Get Hard' and More The New York Times March 17, 2015 April 4, 2015 On March 23, United States President Barack Obama responded to the incident during an interview with the Huffington Post. Obama said it was "not the first time that somebody at a fraternity has done something stupid, racist, sexist," and that it was likely not the last. He commended University of Oklahoma President David Boren for his swift action, and the OU community's response to the video.President Obama addresses racist SAE video http://www.oudaily.com/news/president-obama-addresses-racist-sae-video/article_484501f6-d186-11e4-8c37-6f3f9152fb48.html 7 October 2020 The OU Daily 23 March 2015 Mandatory diversity programs Beginning in 2015, first-year students and faculty have been required to take a five-hour course on diversity. Although several news outlets have connected the training to the chanting video, the course was announced in January, prior to the incident, in connection with a rumors of a "Cowboy and Indians" theme party being planned by a different fraternity.Bennett Brittney Alleged "Cowboys and Indians" party prompts mandatory diversity trainings http://www.oudaily.com/news/alleged-cowboys-and-indians-party-prompts-mandatory-diversity-trainings/article_655bcaa4-a675-11e4-bd03-9f6f0a45438d.html June 16, 2015 OU Daily January 28, 2015Crabtree Trent U. of Oklahoma to instate mandatory diversity course http://college.usatoday.com/2015/06/11/u-oklahoma-mandatory-diversity-course/ June 16, 2015 USA Today June 11, 2015Univ. of Oklahoma to require incoming students to take diversity class http://wbay.com/2015/06/08/univ-of-oklahoma-to-require-incoming-students-to-take-diversity-class/ June 16, 2015 WBAY.com Associated Press June 8, 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150609161211/http://wbay.com/2015/06/08/univ-of-oklahoma-to-require-incoming-students-to-take-diversity-class/ June 9, 2015 dead In a similar manner, the SAE national headquarters have also launched mandatory diversity courses for its pledges. Chapter house repurposed On March 10, 2015, OU regained priority over the property. The former chapter house was leased to SAE by OU and was not SAE property. Instead, the chapter house had always been under the ownership of the university.http://www.oudaily.com/news/ou-s-former-sae-house-will-hold-a-new-center/article_60952954-e25e-11e5-8816-370ebd1745d0.html OU's former SAE house will hold a new center that promotes inclusion Mary Smith OU Daily September 25, 2017 en The outer wall of the building was vandalized with black spray paint on the day of the incident, and was promptly removed by the university.http://newsok.com/article/5399778 Oklahoma Daily: Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house vandalized after chapter closure March 9, 2015 NewsOK.com September 25, 2017 en-US At the beginning of the 2016 academic semester, the former SAE chapter house became the location for OU's University Community Center, which houses the Disability Resource Center (DRC) and the Student Veterans' Association.http://www.ou.edu/content/drc.html Disability Resource Center www.ou.edu September 25, 2017 The seizure of the fraternity house became an opportunity for the DRC to expand, since the center was previously a small wing at Goddard Health Center and had been searching for a location to expand to. Within the Student Veterans' Association's lounge, there is a small exhibit a part of the Henderson Scholars Program in the lower lobby of the former chapter house, to notable university alumni such as Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher who performed a significant role in the civil rights movement in Oklahoma.http://www.oudaily.com/news/ou-student-veterans-association-opens-lounge-in-former-sae-house/article_f9214918-6a1d-11e6-8896-7727a509a817.html OU Student Veterans Association opens lounge in former SAE house Madison Albertson OU Daily September 25, 2017 en References 30em Category:2015 controversies in the United States Category:2015 in Oklahoma 2 Category:Anti-black racism in Oklahoma Category:Race-related controversies in the United States Category:History of the University of Oklahoma