NORMAN, Okla.
(AP) -- Members of a University of Oklahoma fraternity apparently
learned a racist chant that recently got their chapter disbanded during a
national leadership cruise four years ago that was sponsored by the
fraternity's national administration, the university's president said
Friday.
President David Boren said the school
interviewed more than 160 people during its investigation into members
of its now-defunct Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter who were captured on
video taking part in the chant, which included references to lynching, a
racial slur and the promise that the fraternity would never accept a
black member.
"That chant was learned and
brought back to the local chapter," Boren said at a news conference in
which he disclosed the school investigation's findings. "Over time, the
chant was formalized by the local chapter and was taught to pledges as
part of the formal and informal pledgeship process."
A
statement released Friday by the Evanston, Illinois-based national
Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity said its own investigation is ongoing but
confirmed the chant likely was shared during its annual six-day
retreat. SAE's Executive Director Blaine Ayers said in the statement he
believes some members shared the chant during an informal "social
gathering" outside of the normal slate of classes, seminars and other
educational functions.
"But our investigation to date shows no evidence the song was widely shared across the broader organization," Ayers said.
Boren
said about 25 members of the school's SAE chapter will face punishment
ranging from two expulsions the school announced previously to mandatory
community service and cultural sensitivity training. The video, which
surfaced earlier this month, showed fraternity members yelling the chant
on a chartered bus while headed to a formal event at an Oklahoma City
country club with their dates, Boren said.
Boren
said the investigation found alcohol was "readily available" at the
fraternity house before the start of the event, and that about a dozen
high school students whom he described as "potential recruits" were also
on the bus.
Beginning in the fall, Boren said all current and future OU students will be required to take diversity training.
After
the video surfaced, Boren immediately severed ties with the local
chapter, shuttered the fraternity house and expelled two members who led
the chant.
One of those students, Levi
Pettit, publicly apologized at a news conference Wednesday in which he
was flanked by black community leaders. Pettit, who is from the Dallas
enclave of Highland Park, answered a few questions from reporters but
declined to say who taught him the chant.
"The
truth is what was said in that chant is disgusting ... and after
meeting with these people I've learned these words should never be
repeated," Pettit said.
A second student from the Dallas area, Parker Rice, also issued a statement apologizing for his role in the chant.
Isaac
Hill, the president of the university's Black Student Association, met
earlier Friday with Boren and seven student leaders from the defunct OU
chapter, along with some student athletes and members of historically
black fraternities. Hill, a junior from Midwest City, said each of the
fraternity members apologized personally for their role in the chant.
"I believe the students were very sincere in their apologies, and we are all good with that," Hill said.
Also
on Friday, Boren sent a letter to Ayers asking the national fraternity
director what steps he was taking to investigate the origin of the
chant. In the letter, Boren wrote that while there is no indication the
chant was part of the formal teaching of the national organization, "it
does appear that the chant was widely known and informally shared
amongst members on the leadership cruise."
SAE's
national leadership disbanded the OU chapter in the wake of the
incident and announced it was taking steps to become more inclusive,
including requiring all of its members, nationwide, to go through
diversity training and by setting up a confidential hotline for people
to report inappropriate behavior.
SAE began
collecting racial and ethnic data in 2013. Approximately 3 percent of
SAE's reporting members identified as African-American and 20 percent
identified as non-white, according to Ayers.
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