OK - OU fraternity "SAE" sings racist chant on bus

[i.b.nora]

University of Oklahoma Expels 2 Students Over Racist Fraternity Video
New York Times
By MANNY FERNANDEZ and RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑAMARCH 10, 2015

NORMAN, Okla. — Officials with the University of Oklahoma here on Tuesday expelled two students they had identified as playing a leading role in singing a racist chant on a bus over the weekend that has sparked outrage across the country.

The university’s president, David L. Boren, a former Oklahoma governor, expelled the two students but did not identify them, saying in a statement that they had “created a hostile learning environment for others.”
​

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The expulsion letter to the students states that the action takes effect immediately and that they can contact the university’s Equal Opportunity Officer to contest the decision.​

More...

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

The abhorrent display on the bus is not indicative of the overall collective in our state or on our campus.

SBM and a tad O/T: I hate when something happens and then everyone else thinks all the people in that state reflects the attitude of whatever happened. Not the most eloquent in what I am trying to say, but I think it conveys. Politically, my state is sliding backward fast and I want to get out because of the implications... just sucks now that some folks will indeed think OK is full of racists. I appreciate your post, and love love love that quote!

 

[i.b.nora]

Dallas high school tweets response to graduate's alleged involvement in racist video

KOKO 5 News
Oklahoma City
UPDATED 12:47 PM CDT Mar 10, 2015

DALLAS —Jesuit Dallas High School has tweeted a statement about a graduate's involvement in the racist Sigma Alpha Epsilon video.

"The message from the president said it appeared that a graduate from Jesuit Dallas was leading the racist rant."​

And

The Official Message from the President Tweet

Note: Something in the Jesuit Dallas message about a culture of unborn people that I am not clear on makes the whole message fuzzy to me.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

SAE House Mom Responds To Video Showing Her Using Racial Slur

I was singing along to a Trinidad song but completely understand how the video must appear in the context of the events that occurred this week."

http://www.news9.com/story/28353243/video-appears-to-show-sae-house-mom-using-racial-slur

 

[nrdsb4]

Making offensive speech can lead to all kinds of negative consequences. However, this is a public university, so the First Amendment arguments will be very interesting to me. I understand that "free speech" is not without limits, but we all should all hope that restrictions on free speech by public and government funded entities be made very thoughtfully. We are a free society, and with a free society, we have to take the bad with the good at times.

I think public shaming, shunning, and shining light on racists or other hate mongers is the best tactic.

 

[Margo/Mom]

I don't believe racism is a form of mental illness but I do believe the college greek system does promote racism by its culture of segregation and "likeness" to the point members of sororities dress alike during rush week. I found it offensive in 1972 and declined a bid to join and still wonder why taxpayer-supported universities allow it. The emphasis on partying and alcohol has resulted in deaths and reports of sexual assaults to the point of alarming. So, I say bravo! to the Sooners for kicking them off campus.


JMO

Belle--at last we have something in common. I was also in college in '72. Frankly the Greek life at that time was nearly universally scorned. It was weird. The Greek houses at my school had started renting out rooms to non-members. I knew someone who actually rented a room in a sorority. She didn't even like to tell people where she lived. I had one course that frequently met in non-classroom settings. Someone in the class wanted us to all come to her "house" which was a sorority so we could see how nice it is. We were all like, "oh, really?"

I was really astonished some years later to realize that the Greeks had made a come-back. I don't get it.

 

[Margo/Mom]

Making offensive speech can lead to all kinds of negative consequences. However, this is a public university, so the First Amendment arguments will be very interesting to me. I understand that "free speech" is not without limits, but we all should all hope that restrictions on free speech by public and government funded entities be made very thoughtfully. We are a free society, and with a free society, we have to take the bad with the good at times.

I think public shaming, shunning, and shining light on racists or other hate mongers is the best tactic.

Their chant actually had to do with hanging black people from trees. Goes pretty far beyond just using the n-word or saying that their group is for whites only. That may move it beyond protected free speech.

 

[ScarlettScarpetta]

Making offensive speech can lead to all kinds of negative consequences. However, this is a public university, so the First Amendment arguments will be very interesting to me. I understand that "free speech" is not without limits, but we all should all hope that restrictions on free speech by public and government funded entities be made very thoughtfully. We are a free society, and with a free society, we have to take the bad with the good at times.

I think public shaming, shunning, and shining light on racists or other hate mongers is the best tactic.

This is not free speech this is hate speech and public university or not there are conduct codes and rules.
If I was the parent of one of these children that would be it for his College on my dime. It is disgusting that anyone would think this was okay. Who are these people?!

 

[Margo/Mom]

This is not free speech this is hate speech and public university or not there are conduct codes and rules.
If I was the parent of one of these children that would be it for his College on my dime. It is disgusting that anyone would think this was okay. Who are these people?!

Gotta think about what kind of parent raises kids to think that stuff is OK.

 

[Catmommy]

That is the whole crux of the matter. Nobody is born racist. It is a learned/taught behavior.

 

[Nova]

Reminds me of the Congressional Black Caucus. And there are hotel/motels in the Fla. keys that are allowed to discriminate against straight people and will only allow gays in. Still doesn't make it right, and you can't outlaw racism.

Oh, here we go again: poor white heterosexuals, kept down by discrimination at every turn!

Is it really that hard to understand that a group accustomed to being marginalized by the majority might need a safe space to meet to deal with issues unique to them?

As for Key West hotels, how exactly do they test guests for "gayness"? Do guests have to give the desk clerk a before they can check in?

Or is it that they discourage mixed-sex couples because the resort is "clothing optional" and guests are more comfortable if everyone is male?

 

[ScarlettScarpetta]

Oh, here we go again: poor white heterosexuals, kept down by discrimination at every turn!

Is it really that hard to understand that a group accustomed to being marginalized by the majority might need a safe space to meet to deal with issues unique to them?

As for Key West hotels, how exactly do they test guests for "gayness"? Do guests have to give the desk clerk a before they can check in?

Or is it that they discourage mixed-sex couples because the resort is "clothing optional" and guests are more comfortable if everyone is male?

Actually no. If there is supposed to be equal rights it should be the same for everyone. No one should be allowed to exclude anyone from anything then.. Right? So we can have Pageants for special ethnicities as long as you are not white right?
The point is that equal should equal for all. Not special people.

I grew up in a completely racial diverse neighborhood. To me people are people. I think that everyone should be on the same playing field.

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

....a group accustomed to being marginalized by the majority

SBM: this is why I laugh when folks talk about "reverse racism"... as if white folks have ever been marginalized by the majority...

 

[Nova]

University of Oklahoma Expels 2 Students Over Racist Fraternity Video
New York Times
By MANNY FERNANDEZ and RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑAMARCH 10, 2015

NORMAN, Okla. — Officials with the University of Oklahoma here on Tuesday expelled two students they had identified as playing a leading role in singing a racist chant on a bus over the weekend that has sparked outrage across the country.

The university’s president, David L. Boren, a former Oklahoma governor, expelled the two students but did not identify them, saying in a statement that they had “created a hostile learning environment for others.”
​

*

The expulsion letter to the students states that the action takes effect immediately and that they can contact the university’s Equal Opportunity Officer to contest the decision.​

More...

I'm sure gitana1 can explain it better, but when a similar situation arose at UCLA while I was a grad student there, the "freedom of speech" argument didn't outweigh students' right to attend school--particularly a public institution--without enduring a "hostile environment".

 

[Nova]

Actually no. If there is supposed to be equal rights it should be the same for everyone. No one should be allowed to exclude anyone from anything then.. Right? So we can have Pageants for special ethnicities as long as you are not white right?
The point is that equal should equal for all. Not special people.

I grew up in a completely racial diverse neighborhood. To me people are people. I think that everyone should be on the same playing field.

Of course they SHOULD be, but they are not. Our laws and legal decisions have recognized that equality is not achieved by waving a magic wand.

 

[Margo/Mom]

Actually no. If there is supposed to be equal rights it should be the same for everyone. No one should be allowed to exclude anyone from anything then.. Right? So we can have Pageants for special ethnicities as long as you are not white right?
The point is that equal should equal for all. Not special people.

I grew up in a completely racial diverse neighborhood. To me people are people. I think that everyone should be on the same playing field.

Your right to have a private whites only (or blacks only, women only, Irish only, whatever only) club is safe and protected. However, once you start letting the public in (or receiving public dollars for some reason), then you cannot discriminate.

I don't know exactly where that puts Key West Hotels that cater to gays. Public accommodation, yes. However, federal civil rights law does not include sexual orientation, I believe. And I do not know what Florida protects. However, I doubt that any of them refuse service to heteros. They just let them know that the majority of their clientele is gay (and some of them may be naked, depending on the establishment).

Lotta straight people go to gay bars. Always have.

 

[KariKae]

SAE had a bad reputation even when I graduated from OU in 1987.
Guess they finally got what was coming to them.

I was at OU From 92 - 96 and I have heard this chant before, but it was not at the SAE house. It was at a different house.

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

did that house also rhyme with "tree" the way "S-A-E" rhymes with tree? Rhetorical question really.

ETA: So others at OU have known of this chant for many many years it seems and this is the first time is has made news, the first time someone actually spoke out about it?

I thought I couldn't be more disgusted.

Must. Leave. This. Thread.

 

[i.b.nora]

http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/cor/coord/titlevi.php

TITLE VI of The Civil Rights Act of 1964

snip

"Overview of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Title VI, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d et seq., was enacted as part of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. It prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance. As President John F. Kennedy said in 1963:

Simple justice requires that public funds, to which all taxpayers of all races [colors, and national origins] contribute, not be spent in any fashion which encourages, entrenches, subsidizes or results in racial [color or national origin] discrimination."

Much more...

 

[i.b.nora]

http://studentconduct.ou.edu

OU Student Conduct Office

Welcome

Students and faculty each have responsibility for maintaining an appropriate learning environment. Students who fail to adhere to the established code of conduct may be subject to disciplinary action. Faculty have the professional responsibility to set reasonable standards and behavioral expectations for their classroom and the obligation to take the appropriate course of action when student behavior substantially interferes with the ability of a faculty member to teach or the ability of other students to learn.

The faculty member can handle most inappropriate behaviors at the time of the disruption; however, some situations may require consultation, University disciplinary action, and/or immediate emergency response. This guide has been designed by the Student Conduct Office to assist you to assess problem behavior and to determine the appropriate course of action.​

*****

http://www.ou.edu/content/eoo/policies-procedures.html

INSTITUTIONAL EQUITY OFFICE / EOO POLICIES & PROCEDURES

Policies & Procedures
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY POLICY

This University in compliance with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, age (40 or older), religion, disability, political beliefs, or status as a veteran in any of its policies, practices, or procedures. This includes but is not limited to admissions, employment, housing, financial aid, and educational services.

*

http://www.ou.edu/content/eoo/policies-procedures/non-discrimination.html

I. Definitions:

Discrimination: Discrimination, including harassment, is defined as conduct directed at a specific individual or group of identifiable individuals that subjects the individual or group to treatment that adversely affects their employment or education, or access to institutional benefits, on account of race, color, religion, political beliefs, national origin, sex (see Sexual Assault, Discrimination and Harassment policy http://www.ou.edu/content/eoo/policies/misc.html), sexual orientation, genetic information, age (40 or older), disability, veteran status. ...​

IV. Free Speech and Academic Freedom

Members of the University community enjoy significant free speech protections guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. This policy is intended to protect members of the University community from discrimination not to regulate protected speech. No provision of this policy shall be interpreted to prohibit conduct that is legitimately related to course content, teaching methods, scholarship, or public commentary of an individual or faculty member or the educational, political, artistic or literary expression of students in classrooms and public forums. However, freedom of speech and academic freedom are not limitless and do not protect speech or expressive conduct that violates federal or state anti-discrimination laws.​

There is much more relevant material available. This will get you started.