WASHINGTON, Mar 10: The University of Oklahoma has banned a major fraternity from its campus over a YouTube video that shows some of its members singing a racist chant.
The video came to light over the weekend, just as Americans were marking the 50th anniversary of the Selma, Alabama civil rights marches.
The chant, sung to the tune of a nursery rhyme, used the racially charged N-word and refers to lynching in affirming that blacks shall never be members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, one of the biggest fraternity networks in the United States.
The fraternity’s national headquarters suspended its University of Oklahoma chapter and apologised for the “unacceptable” incident.
But officials at the university in the city of Norman went further, shutting down the Sigma Alpha Epsilon frat house yesterday and ordering its members to immediately go find other places to live.
“As far as I’m concerned, the house will not be back, not as long as I’m president,” university president David Boren told a press conference.
It also kicked off an investigation to confirm who among the 30,000 students who attend the university participated in the video.
Boren conceded, however, that the campus’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter has not been forthcoming with details.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s national headquarters in Illinois apologised for “the unacceptable and racist behaviour of the individuals in the video.” (AGENCIES)
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