GWUWolverineFan

March 10th, 2015 at 11:45 AM ^

Plenty of people are saying SAE is a racist organization not only here but elsewhere.

In any group of hundreds of thousands you will have bigots. We have them in Ann Arbor (a population similar to SAE's active and alumni), yet you wouldn't think it fair to say Ann Arbor should be looked into as racist.

Bear in mind, the interaction between chapters outside of a specific fraternal province is very low. My province owing to my chapter and a few others was known for it's difficult pledge process. U of Ms province was known for hard drinking, etc.

Nacho Man

March 10th, 2015 at 10:04 AM ^

I had a couple friends in SAE at Michigan, and I knew there were at least a handful of black kids in the frat at the time. A couple of them were from very prominent families as well. There were always a lot of black people at the parties. 

Methinks those guys have to be watching this video with very confused faces.

GoBlueGladstone

March 10th, 2015 at 10:45 AM ^

...who is still stinging with embarassment from SA Smith's suggestion that the cutthroat business of the NFL is beholden to racism on behalf of Chip Kelly's recent moves, I want him to take a look at the video so he knows what a real racist looks like.

I don't know why, maybe because I suspect or expect southern white guys in all-white fraternities to do this, but I was more shocked by the girls on the bus also engaging in it wholeheartedly. Sigh.

mgoblue0970

March 10th, 2015 at 10:54 AM ^

Not a Greek but I noticed this morning on the news OU gave the, 24 hours to move out.  The University owns the houses?

saveferris

March 10th, 2015 at 11:58 AM ^

While I found the video to be shocking and embarrassing, I had to admit to feeling a little sorry for the students involved, if only because I doubt any of our lives in their entirety would stand up this kind of public scrutiny.  The idea that any random act can be captured by someone and broadcast for all to see is a sobering prospect.  That's not to say that bringing this particular incident to light isn't the correct thing to do, because I believe wholeheartedly that it is, but I find myself wondering where the line gets drawn.

I'd hate to be made to account for every dumbass thing I did or said when I was 20 years old.  As a guy now in his mid-40's I'm a lot wiser than I used to be, but thinking about the world my kids are going to be living in, where any dumb mistake could just ruin them.  Terrifying prospect and I wonder how one prepares them adequately to deal with it.

Wendyk5

March 10th, 2015 at 12:07 PM ^

You make a great point about preparing our kids for this paparazzi world. In this case, it wouldn't at all surprise me if some of the parents of these kids shared the song's sentiments. I don't think this was one very isolated incident, completely without precedent. But the problem of kids getting caught in these moments of possibly life-changing inexplicable dumbness is out there. One misguided press of the "send" button is all it takes. 

jmdblue

March 10th, 2015 at 12:57 PM ^

but never anything like this.  No racism. No threatening women. No mob beatdowns.  These kids deserve what they get.  The tougher question for me is what to say about the "bystanders"?  It's one thing to shit on the ringleaders, but it would take an unbelievable amount of balls to face down this behavior.  Those who sat silent, but disagreed (if any) may be the ones to feel a little sorry for.

I constantly tell my kids the two things I will absolutely not let them be are bullies or bullied.  Both were represented on that bus in Oklahoma.

Nacho Man

March 10th, 2015 at 1:46 PM ^

This is very true. I'm still in my 20s, but some of my actions even within the last six months would probably disqualify me from any position of power if someone had been following me with a camera in a private location.

This sounds like a song that had been sung for decades at the frat, and I'm sure a large majority of the guys singing it in the video aren't actually racist. It appears that they invite the rapper Wakka Flocka Flame to a party every year. However, they were dumb for singing this song in front of people who were non-members and didn't understand that it's more of a song of tradition than actual belief.

BlueFish

March 10th, 2015 at 2:08 PM ^

"some of my actions even within the last six months would probably disqualify me from any position of power if someone had been following me with a camera in a private location"

Any possibility you might share those with us?  Work is really boring this afternoon.

(j/k)

Shorty the Bea…

March 10th, 2015 at 12:34 PM ^

Would not have released an immediate public condemnation of the fraternity.  He would've "been doing more important things" like spending days doing research on exactly what happened in private before releasing a statement at 1AM.