Photos courtesy of AP
The University of Oklahoma’s president recently expelled two students who were identified as leaders of a racist chant captured on video during a fraternity event.
Read the following story from the Bangkok Post to learn more about this disturbing case.
University President David Boren said the two students were dismissed on March 10 for creating a hostile learning environment for others. Their names were not released.
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 the university’s chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
SWIFT ACTION
David acted swiftly after the video surfaced on March 8, severing ties with the fraternity and ordering its house closed on Monday and announcing the expulsions on March 10.
“I hope that students involved in this incident will learn from this experience and realise that it is wrong to use words to hurt, threaten and exclude other people,” David said. “The university is working to identify other students involved in the chant, who may also face disciplinary action.”
VILE VIDEO
The video was taken on a bus going to an event at a country club. The person who recorded it cooperated with the investigation, David said on March 10, ahead of a Board of Regents meeting.
The university, located in the southern Oklahoma City suburb of Norman, has about 27,000 students, about 5 percent of whom are African Americans.
Exercises
Read the story. Then, decide whether each of the following statements is true or false.
1. David Boren is the University of Oklahoma’s president.
……………….
2. The video was taken on a taxi going to an event at a country club.
……………….
3. The students were officially expelled on March 1.
……………….
4. The students were expelled for disturbing the learning environment in a library.
……………….
Vocabulary
- stupidity (n): behaviour that shows a lack of thought or good judgement
fraternity (n): a club for a group of male students at an American college or university
slur (n): an unfair remark about somebody or something that may damage other people’s opinion of them
lynching (n): the illegal killing of somebody by hanging, usually done by a group of people
expulsion (n): the act of sending somebody away from a school, a university, an organisation, etc. so that they can no longer belong to it
disciplinary (adj): connected with the punishment of people who break rules
