The SAE letters were removed from their OU chapter house today.
http://t.co/fAR3aaJ1vJ
Most likely, to prevent vandalism.

Sooner football team praying before practice today.
http://t.co/kVvssaqReP
Many players plus coaches were at the anti-racism rally this morning.

Why would that be "disgusting"? This has nothing to do with National. Generally 5 years is the starting point. By then everyone connected to issue/matter is gone and a new, clean start can be done. I do agree with you
about the alumni. I have had a rather strong suspicion that there sadly is an alumni involved somewhere in this matter. And not in any sort of a good way. One can only hope that at least one of the several investigations can and does find the true root cause to this event, this matter and pulls it out and gets ride of it for good. From what I have seen and heard, National will not stop at an Alumni no matter who it is. And Brother Pickens is from the other Oklahoma school. Have to wonder if he is at all too happy with the new photo going around about them.

I know plenty of alums from that particular chapter who are shocked about what was happening or at least claim to be.

But yeah, the first one of them I read a tweet about it from... well the lake my house is adjacent to is named for his grandfather.

FWIW, I don't think of this as an alumni problem. It's probably some crap an undergrad pulled off of some TFM-like site which he thought he might be able to use to gain attention.

Bravo.. success..

FWIW, CNN report midafternoon Monday, with remarks by the university's president, events causing the chapter closure, eviction from the house, and so on:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/09/us/okl...ternity-chant/

Many parents or grandparents from IFC and NPC groups can likely tell of similar chants or songs. Doesn't make them right, then or now.


See also:
http://www.nola.com/recruiting/index..._ots_comm.html

The chant controversy seems to be affecting sports recruitment; “offensive tackle Jean Delance decommitted from Oklahoma this morning [Monday].”
Athlletes are voicing their views: running back Eric Striker is mentioned in the above article.

To the poster above who said what was surprising is that people are so "surprised" that things like this happen. I am one of those surprised, and honestly, sickened people. I live in a place of great racial diversity and while its not perfect, people try to get along and be respectful of each other. I watch the kids here hang out together and skin color seems to be the last thing on their minds. I guess I was naieve to think or hope that things were getting better. So yes, I am surprised that a song/chant like this would be seen as acceptable by the fraternity members. It honestly breaks my heart that it is.

That is unfortunate. White people have a tendency to pretend to be colorblind and to believe that fake colorblindness is necessary for diversity and equality. Nonwhites tend not to believe that because we know there is nothing inherently wrong with skin color and there is nothing inherently wrong with other racial, ethnic, and cultural traits. But a few nonwhites get hoodwinked, bamboozled, and led astray into fake colorblindness. Then they encounter the realities of life. Booyah.

WHAT????

I seriously hope that I'm misunderstanding what you said, because that reads like "whoo hoo! Somebody did something stupid and wiped out their decades old chapter, now we can get a sweet house out of it!"

To the main point, these guys are assholes and yes the whole chapter does deserve to go because that was some pretty basic "we have sung this song a million billion times and think about it as much as we think about breathing." I'm glad someone finally blew the whistle on this, and I hope he stays safe.

To Dr. Phil - question for you. You say that whites have fake colorblindness while nonwhites understand there is nothing inherently wrong with their skin color and other racial groups, cultures, ethnic traits. Do you not think a white person can feel this way too? Just trying to understand. I love my childs other friends like my own. Skin color and ethnic background never come into it. Do you see this as fake colorblindness on my part? If so, that makes me sad.

Here's a blog post that a friend of my shared on facebook. It's a powerful blog from a black man who was a member of the OU chapter 14 years ago...

http://betweenthenotes.me/2015/03/09...r-black-s-a-e/

Yes. After they stop using white privilege to imagine colorblindness.

Colorblindness is a farce that operates on the notion that this racial and ethnic inequality thing wouldn't exist if we could all pretend to be robots or see-through beings void of race, ethnicity, culture, skin colors, facial features, and other physical identifiers. For the most part, only white people (in general) in the U.S. and around the world believe that.

That depends on what you mean by "skin color and ethnic background never come into it".

One of the most insulting things a white person can say to me is "you're such a great person, I don't even notice you're Black" or "you're so accomplished, you being Black doesn't even matter" or "I like you despite you being Black" or "when I see you I don't see race".

Anyone who knows me knows that I love being a woman, I love being Black, and I love being a Black woman; and I am a vocal community activist. Any relationship with me cannot ignore my (womanhood and) Blackness. Any relationship with me has to acknowledge my (womanhood and) Blackness while granting me equal rights and opportunities. Equal rights and opportunities do not require ignoring my (womanhood and) Blackness.

Thanks Dr. Phil for replying. I appreciate hearing from you, and it gives me something to think about.

I don't know if this has been mentioned--first day of my classes for my college's spring quarter. But I have seen bits and pieces, including the OU President's strong remarks as well as the comments of the spokesman for SAE Hdqtrs.

What struck me was that the 2nd or 3rd thing out of the spokesman's mouth was a request (promise?) to return to OU in a few years with a fresh attitude or something like that. Also, some brothers MIGHT lose their membership.

REALLY? Even a mention of returning to that campus was totally inappropriate I thought. Forget about that, apologize, offer support for the OU Administration and say some brothers WILL lose their membership. For lord's sake be humble and not even ASSUME a return to campus--that would be better discussed much later on and not in the public forum.

This just enrages me to no end. The audacity that shows both their privilege and that this was just the tip of the iceberg. Can you imagine, if they were okay singing this out loud in celebration what they said to each other in even more private settings.

This were not kids making a stupid decision, these were men being horrible and broadcasting a really really nasty culture of that fraternities life and potentially greek life on that campus. There were sorority women on that bus potentially singing along or thinking it was funny. CLosing SAE won't change anything, there needs to be serious soul searching in that panhellenic about how a chapter could feel like they could do that and do that in the presence of other members of the community.

Also, our national orgs may need to start to do some serous soul searching if they want to survive this day and age of social media and decreased tolerance for behavior that has too long been written off as that of stupid college kids.
I'm sick of the PR email of a chapter removed and recitation of values. We need to accept that on many universities are greek orgs have the potential to be a petri dish of entitlement, privilege and racism and we need to be aggressive in heading that off.

"...a Petri dish of entitlement..."--wow, KDMafia--that is beautifully said! But it is both terribly sad and truly stomach turning. Have many of our organizations become so ingrained in an elitist bubble that they can't be bothered to see the "real" world out there? This is not what I stood for all through the 1960s; this is not what I thought Greek organizations would be debating in the 21st Century: inclusive or exclusive? The answer to that may well determine the future of Greek-letter organizations.

KDMafia, Ditto your post. I have thinking all afternoon that it is time for our national organizations to come together through IFC and Panhel to discuss the issue of race, assault and other actions that result from this sense of entitlment that happens at some Greek systems. The demographics in our country are changing rapidly and if we want to around for another 100 years we better damn well figure out how to welcome people of color with open arms. Just this month, our sorority magazine's cover story was about diversity in sorority life, making the point that by 2040 the college campuses will look very different.

Aside from just simple survival of our organizations, there is a moral imperative here to step up and be leaders to our collegiate members because it is the just thing to do. We can no longer sit on the sidelines and act appalled. We need some national leadership: how about it IFC and NPC???? I know I will be emailing our Panhel reps asking this question.

Tri Delta's national website is commenting on the OU incident:
http://www.tridelta.org/news/theinci...sityofoklahoma

KDMafia, I know that you said POTENTIALLY. I have to point out that there is no evidence that I have seen that shows any of the women joining in with this horrific behavior. Have you seen anything to the contrary? I think it is very clear that there were women on that bus that disagreed enormously with what was going on. That is why they videoed the actions and then exposed these racist little pricks for the bigots that they are.

Do I think they are complicit for not having stood up on the bus and demanded that the singing stop or demanding to be let off? No, I won't go that far. I think the women on that bus did what they could to make a difference and applaud their actions.

ETA: ChioLu just posted about Tri Delta's statement. I have read in several places that at least one of those videos was posted by a Tri Delta member. GOOD GIRL!

Just a reminder from upthread - If everyone who has viewed this thread gave just $5, Howard (the long-time cook at the SAE house) would have a very comfortable severance package. Please consider helping an innocent victim of this horrible story -https://life.indiegogo.com/fundraisers/howard

If they knew it was wrong, then why did they do it? And if they knew it was wrong and did it anyway, then why would you assume any apology or repentance would be the least bit sincere.

Well, just to be clear, this could be a First Amendment issue. As a result of the Fourteenth Amendment, the First Amendment applies to state and local governments as well, and as a public university, OU is an entity of state government. So it is possible that some actions OU might want to take could have First Amendment implications.

SWTXBelle, what a spectacular idea!!!

I actually bet that he will be snapped up by another house on campus, but helping Howard through this rough patch was a fantastic idea. Glad to see that someone set this up. Off to make my donation....

I interpreted the First Amendment statement as trying to be applied to the fraternity, who of course would not be bound by it. Has the university done anything other than pull recognition of the chapter, which is a moot point as the fraternity has yanked the charter?

To give credit where credit is due, Kevin first posted it. I was happy to give my little bit to help Howard, and figured y'all would like to, also!

Then hat tip to Kevin, too!! :)

The University is investigating to determine exactly which members were involved before imposing punishments on individuals. I expect to see some harsh punishments from Boren.

I just made a small donation and the fund was very close to $25,000. My heart is heavy that those young men would sing a song like that with Howard taking such good care of them. Did any of them realize at the time that this would be hurtful to him? I hope he lands in a new job where they care about him.

Well said, Sig Kap sister. I just made my small donation. All the best for Howard.

I have not seen anything indicating other than rumors hence the phrase potentially. However, only one person video taped that and turned it in. I think to pretend that all of the dates, which most likely comprised of a majority sorority members, were obviously appalled is naive in the extreme and does not help us in moving forward from this incident in a true and productive way. Obviously this wasn't the first time they sang the song together as a fraternity, and they sure seemed completely okay with singing it out loud in public, which assumes some level of assurance that those present would be okay which probably indicates that this song has been sung in front of others before.

This blogpost popped up on my news feed. Thought it was worth sharing, and not sure it has been shared yet.

ETA: Oops - I see it a ways back. Still worth posting again.

I don't see why the "last black member from OU’s ‘racist’ fraternity" has to answer for this. Or why the word racist is in quotes.
http://kfor.com/2015/03/09/last-blac...t-time-in-sae/

Tri Delts: "The behavior documented in the video is deplorable and is in no way consistent with Tri Delta's ideals and core values. http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...-video-n320406

Essay: The Tainted 'Gentlemen' of Sigma Alpha Epsilon http://nbcnews.to/1BqihJ3 via @NBCNews

Well this is just lovely. A video from 2013 of SAE house mom saying the N-word over and over. She might be singing along to rap music playing, but that doesn't make it right.

http://totalfratmove.com/lets-see-ho...a-in-one-vine/

Essays from Greek Chatters:

http://oldgoldsoul.com/2015/03/09/i-...en-saehatesme/

http://www.franbecque.com/2015/03/09/march-9/

http://oldgoldsoul.com/2015/03/10/i-...er-saehatesme/

Thanks for posting these, Sen, and for writing two of them.

I thank me for writing them too.

Lol jk. Fran has posted a follow up. Would post the link but I'm currently mobile.

I also thank you for writing and sharing your posts. You have a powerful way with words.

Since you're mobile, I'll share the link to Fran's follow up blog from today:

http://www.franbecque.com/2015/03/10/march-10/

I have some thoughts about this story and both your posts and Fran's, but I'm trying to formulate them beyond blurting out "racist assholes!" in regards to the chapter. I will post later once I get it somewhat together.

Fran's follow up is on her home page:
http://www.franbecque.com

From the article:
Sen: I appreciate your comments. As white people we are responsible for our own call to action, and sometimes with our actions we are getting it right, but unfortunately most of the time we aren't.

Fran: We can do more as mothers. Much more.

My parents were both raised in the South by fathers who were racist. One man openly used the “n” word until the day he died. The other- ironically a minister- never used that word but never had to. His words, thoughts and actions portrayed anyone of color as less educated, less moral, and of less value and thus it was clear exactly where his heart was.

To my parents' credit they grew into adults who openly rejected those views. They worked very hard to show my brother and I that we are to love all people, and that all people are equal in the eyes of God and should therefore be equal in eyes of man, etc., etc. I grew up watching my parents embrace all my friends, male and female, with no difference shown to those of a different race. They had effectively broken the pattern of racism.

Or had they?

As they navigated the waters of raising children to have a very different mindset than what they had been taught to have, they made one huge mistake. They focused 100% of their teaching on treating others as equals, and that we aren’t different because “we all bleed red.” It was the “kum ba yah” approach to race relations. They truly believed they were doing the right thing by taking this approach.

But at no time did they ever mention lynchings. Bombs in churches were omitted too. Police brutality against people of color? Nope, never heard that message. All white juries sentencing black men to death with no evidence? That was never discussed either. Even though (or maybe because?) they had seen these things first hand, these historical facts, along with scores of other pieces of history, were never taught to me.

And don’t kid yourself that my 1980s white-fight suburban Texas public education system covered any of that. We were lucky to get 5 minutes on Rosa Parks and maybe a day of MLK. The Civil Rights Era was covered in much the same manner as the women’s right to vote… people wanted equality, a few said no, then boom- the government stepped in and now we are all happy.

When you grow up in white-flight suburbia you aren’t witnessing the effects of racism either, and there are but a few people of color in your entire school.

Therefore, I was well into adulthood before fully grasping the true ugliness of our history, understanding what is meant by privilege, and questioning my parents on why they had sanitized race relations. I asked around. Virtually all of my white friends had the same account: grandparents who were racists, parents who grew up in the Civil Rights Era, and they being raised to love but without any of the horrid, horrid details of what it is like to grow up as a person of color in the country.

I think many of today's NPC/NIC GLOs have kids with similar stories. Thus the racist themed events, but their decries that they weren't being racist at all. Thus, bystanders staying quiet while horrific words are chanted.

Therefore, as white people, we have to do a MUCH better job of educating our youth on our ugly history. We are failing miserably at this, and that includes many well-intentioned individuals. Highlighting the racial bias that has existed, and continues to exist, won’t make a generation of kids with racial bias. Studies prove otherwise. In fact, they will grow up to have more compassion and understanding for those around them and better recognize the position of influence they are in.

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. Hispanic and Black classmates were the norm when I went through school, graduating in 1972. So we're Asians, actually. But when I had a crush on an Asian guy in HS, my parents went ballistic! So, racial prejudice goes many ways. I don't like it and in my kids world, as an Air Force family, we lived and worked with people who followed the same rules and regulations and had the same opportunities, regardless of their race. I'm not going to claim to be colorblind, as that U.S. a hot button, but I gave spent a lot of my 61 years in situations where color blindness was the norm.
Today, almost 41 years after my Initiation, after almost 30 years as a volunteer on the International level, and with 4 daughters who are also sisters, I truly wonder why we are here. Why does the Greek system continue down the path of just killing itself? Why does the "we've always done it this way" attitude prevail? Why do alumnae continue to say they WERE an XYZ? Why do alumnae continue to support these stereotypes? I wonder if I can make a difference in the minds of the collegians I work with.
It's a very sad day for the overall Greek System.

You read that sentence wrong. I didn't mean as disgusting as it is they will be back; I meant as disgusting as that occurrence/song/video in that instance is.

The two students who led the singing of the racist chant have been expelled from OU-see here