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University of Oklahoma fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon must vacate the fraternity house by midnight on Tuesday

Fraternity has been under fire since a video surfaced of members allegedly chanting racist messages

Payton Guion
Tuesday 10 March 2015 14:55 GMT
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Members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at the University of Oklahoma have been told that they must move out of the fraternity house by midnight on Tuesday as the fallout continues after a video surfaced that allegedly shows members of the fraternity engaging in a racist chant.

David Boren, president of the university, closed the SAE house on Monday and told all members of the fraternity that they must have all their belongings out of the house by the end of the following day, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The university also is considering expelling the students responsible for the chant and Mr Boren said he hopes they leave without being forced, adding that he "may even personally pay bus fare for them if they go somewhere else.”

The eviction and possible expulsions are the latest reactions to a video that apparently shows members of University of Oklahoma’s chapter of SAE chanting “There will never be a n— SAE. You can hang ’em from a tree, but he’ll never sign with me. There will never be a n—SAE.”

Warning: The video below contains explicit language.

Another video has surfaced, allegedly showing the SAE house mother – a supervisor of sorts – using the n-word in 2013 while rapping along with a popular song, according to news reports.

The national headquarters of SAE has released a statement condemning the chant and saying that all SAE members responsible will have their memberships permanently revoked.

“All of the members have been suspended, and those members who are responsible for or involved in the incident will face having their membership privileges revoked permanently,” the statement says. “We apologize for the unacceptable and racist behaviour of the individuals in the video, and we are disgusted that any member would act in such a way.”

SAE was founded at the University of Alabama in 1856, according to the frat website. The fraternity has 219 chapters and about 15,000 undergraduate members.

Rolling Stone named two chapters of SAE on its list of the most out of control fraternities in the US, coming in at nos. 1 and 3, respectively. The University of Oklahoma chapter was not named on that list.

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