On Sunday, March 8, a video of Oklahoma’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity singing a racist chant surfaced the internet, triggering a wave of emotion and anger towards the fraternity and the university.

The video features SAE members on a charter bus, all singing a racist chant. The video went viral after an anonymous source posted the video on Twitter tagging the universities president, David Boren. Boren replied to the tweet by saying, “If the video is indeed of OU students, this behavior will not be tolerated and is contrary to all of our values. We are investigating.”

Since the video has surfaced, SAE and its members have been punished. The SAE fraternity was originally suspended, and then later shut down. All members have been suspended, except those seen in the video participating in the chant. Those who were identified have been expelled from the university, due to violating Title XI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination. Along with being disciplined by the school, the fraternity and university have been punished by the public. After the video surfaced the internet, the SAE house was vandalized, as unknown suspects wrote “Tear it Down” on the side of their house. SAE is not the only Greek community at U of O facing criticism. Many sororities have been placed on probation just for fear of being related to the video. This is not just affecting the students in the video, but the university as a whole. Four Star Football recruit Jean Delance decommited to Oklahoma on Monday, just one day after seeing the video. Jean said he decommited for “personal reasons”, but the video that had surfaced just 24 hours before “did play a role in his decision.”

One of the two SAE members expelled, Parker Rice, apologized to the university and everyone affected by it. Rice said that he is “deeply sorry” and that “alcohol likely fueled the incident, but that’s not an excuse.” The University of Oklahoma has held multiple prayer vigils and walks to unite the university and help everyone overcome this incident. These prayer vigils and walks are attended by many, including the Sooners’ football team, who skipped practice to participate.