NORMAN, Okla. — University of Oklahoma President David Boren has expelled two students he says have been identified as leading a racist chant as part of a fraternity event.
Boren said in a statement Tuesday the two students were dismissed for creating a “hostile learning environment for others.” While Boren didn’t release the students’ names, one of them came forward to apologize on Tuesday, according to The Dallas Morning News. Parker Rice said:
I am deeply sorry for what I did Saturday night. It was wrong and reckless. I made a horrible mistake by joining into the singing and encouraging others to do the same. or me, this is a devastating lesson and I am seeking guidance on how I can learn from this and make sure it never happens again. My goal for the long-term is to be a man who has the heart and the courage to reject racism wherever I see or experience it in the future.
The video posted online shows several people on a bus participating in a chant that included a racial slur, referenced lynching and indicated black students would never be admitted to OU’s chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
Boren says he hopes the dismissal of the two students will help students realize “it is wrong to use words to hurt, threaten, and exclude other people.”
Boren severed ties with the fraternity on Monday and ordered its house shuttered.
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