OU Expels 2 Students Over Racist Chant

University president moves quickly to boot them out
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 10, 2015 12:10 PM CDT
Oklahoma Expels 2 Students Over Racist Chant
The University of Oklahoma football team and coaches walk into practice wearing all black in protest of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity Monday.   (AP Photo/Tulsa World, Nick Oxfor)

Two University of Oklahoma students accused of leading the racist chant that emerged on video this week now aren't just homeless, they're school-less. University President David Boren announced today that the two unidentified students have been expelled, reports KOCO.com. "I have emphasized that there is zero tolerance for this kind of threatening racist behavior at the University of Oklahoma," he said. "I hope that the entire nation will join us in having zero tolerance of such racism when it raises its ugly head in other situations across our country." The expulsions follow the closing of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon frat, meaning members have until tonight to clear the frat house.

The students can appeal Boren's decision, and a story in the Oklahoma Daily, the campus newspaper, suggest they might have a case if they decide to do so on freedom-of-speech grounds. “If the extent of it is what we see in those 11 seconds of video, I don’t see a constitutional basis for [expulsion],” the executive director of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education tells the newspaper. The frat's house mother has a video problem of her own. (More University of Oklahoma stories.)

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