This is a state institution. Private colleges can get away with a lot more “rules” that challenge notions of fairness. But state schools are usually held to a much higher standard in taking disciplinary or enforcement actions against students. People who have threatened to judicially challenge expulsion under UVa’s honor code often get reinstated in order for the school to avoid a decision on the merits – which tells you how much confidence they have about it being upheld if really challenged.
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I absolutely refuse to believe they learned it on a national cruise. This goes against the values and ethics they stand for. They told us so!
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Well, then those guys are welcome to challenge their expulsion in a court of law. Not knowing what the honor code or university rules are or what they entail, I imagine these guys violated any of a number of university rules.
What percentage of SAE members are African-American? I’ve not seen any reporting on this. Anybody know?
Anyone surprised?
I saw the figure reported somewhere earlier today - nationally, 3% African American, 20% non-white overall. Which is higher than I expected.
Interestingly, the founder of the OU chapter in its present incarnation (it had been shut down in the late 80’s after a hazing death I think) is Indian-American. His take on this is worth reading every word.
But here is a taste:
I could say that the actions of a few are impacting the whole. But, let’s not kid ourselves. Racism, elitism, hazing, these all seem to be more systemic than localized; and, the culture needs to change, it needs to be overhauled, comprehensibly, and not just swept under the rug…for the few years following 1995, the Oklahoma Kappa chapter of SAE, at the University of Oklahoma, was a solid house, that welcomed men of all races, ethnicities, etc…But, that house of the 90s no longer exists, and apparently has not existed for many years. That being said, I would rather see the whole thing gone than have to ever be associated with bigots!
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Or Andersonville.
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Yes, of course. That’s what Boren said, too, as I recall. In general, holding institutions to a higher standard is not a bad thing. It’s the basis upon which the recent actions by the University of Illinois rescinding an offer of employment against a professor because of his tweets against Israel, or for that matter, Ward Churchill’s actions against the University of Colorado. As state actors they actually have to uphold the first amendment and give procedural due process when they initiate disciplinary actions against professors and students.
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Not to mention the issue of having served alcohol at the house and on the bus - as part of an official event - and not just to underage members of the frat, but apparently to those high school recruits that were hanging out with them. I don’t think the university will have any difficulty finding sufficient grounds for action.
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Couldn’t they have just come back with the Norovirus like everyone else?
Boren exhibits how it should be done. Great job.
The saddest part is that 20 years from now, these tools will be preferentially hiring and doing business with their racist fellow drunk asses, over people who are truly qualified and ambitious
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I don’t think your “free speech” speech plays here at this incident. Go yell the “n” word in the office of your boss and when he fires you, give him your “free speech” speech…lol
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You have a serious misunderstanding of the First Amendment speech right. The First Amend only protects us form criminal prosecution and state and federal laws prohibiting expression in public places.
These young men have no constitutional right to attend OU or any other college and the University is free to set rules of conduct and expel students who fail to meet those rules of conduct. The same as your employer has the right to fire you for this same behavior.
There is no ‘free speech’ issue here.
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So, its official, the whole SAE fraternity nationwide is loaded with racist pigs.
This is looking worse, not better, for the fraternity. The high school kids in the bus revelation is a real whammy. Blatant, hardcore racism, alcohol on the school bus with way underage kids, national implications.
This is a Greek tragedy.
I, for one, am NOT the least bit surprised. This is NOT NEW to me.
I went to college in the late 70s. I saw this retarded bullshit then, and I see little evidence that anything has really changed. Did I belong to a frat? No. Did I even try to pledge a frat? No. I was invited to join Phi Beta Kappa, a SOCIETY. Phi Beta Kappa does not discriminate on any factor other than academic performance. We discriminate the same way the National Honor Society does. Not even remotely comparable to frats/sororities, which inherently discriminate on gender lines. It’s a small step to expand the list things to bar people for: like skin color, religion, family income and social status, your looks, your sense of “fashion”, etcetera.
All of these are bullshit reasons, of course, but that IS the reality of the “Greek system”.
Bigotry begets bigotry.
Sororities exists because the boys thought girls had “cooties”. Remember the boys’ “clubhouse” that had the “No Girls Allowed” sign? That’s where frats came from.
Black frats/sororities exist, because the others thought Blacks were sub-human.
Hillel exists because typical frats/sororities are antisemitic bastions of WASPism.
When your entire existence is rooted in bigotry, it’s impossible to root out the bigotry you want root out, because the weeds of bigotry all look the same.
Oh, Levi, you know you’re not sorry. And those black people lined up behind you at your apology performance should be ashamed. I thought I was watching The Help. In time, Levi will be able to sing that song with impunity, once he leaves college. In "his’ real world, the post-diverse-college-experience world–he can construct his life so he never has to interact with black people–unless he’s being served, the way Ted Cruz, Mitch McConnell, and Romney manage to do. Young Levi will fit right in to the supremacist world of guns, evangelicism, Duck Dynasty, tea party politics, Ted Cruz, and Cliven Bundy.
Who were the adults in charge on this National cruise? I want names and their positions at the school. That is where this story should go. The kids did not magically learn this song. Someone taught it to them and it was an adult with authority within the school and it’s administration.
There was a black SAE member at Cornell in NY who was hazed to death in 2011. I had it in the back of my mind, and it’s this. The details of the hazing are gruesome.
http://www.inquisitr.com/1912649/sigma-alpha-epsilon-racist-incidents/
The frat can blame Obama for inciting their racism. Millions of racist Republicans will agree.
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