NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — The president of the University of Oklahoma chastised members of a fraternity on Monday who participated in a racist chant caught on video, calling them disgraceful and their behavior reprehensible.
President David Boren joined students at a pre-dawn rally on the Norman campus, just hours after the Sigma Alpha Epsilon said an investigation confirmed the contents of the online video and announced the local chapter would close. The video shows several people chanting a racial slur and indicating blacks would never be admitted to the fraternity. The chant also references lynching.
“You are disgraceful,” Boren said, according to The Oklahoman newspaper. “Real Sooners are not bigots, real Sooners are not racist.”
Watch members of the fraternity chant about hanging “N*****s” from tree below:
[youtubevid video=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dG-wq6SJqjU” id=”dG-wq6SJqjU” w=”640″ h=”360″]
The national fraternity released a statement Sunday night saying it was “embarrassed” by the “unacceptable and racist” behavior.
The video was first posted online by a black student group at the university. It wasn’t immediately clear how it was obtained.
Boren also released a statement saying the university was investigating to see if the video showed university students.
“If OU students are involved, this behavior will not be tolerated and will be addressed very quickly,” he said. “This behavior is reprehensible and contrary to all our values.”
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