Fallout Continues at Univ. of Oklahoma Over Racist Frat Video

[grumbler]

So, your argument that fraternities are not full of assholes and jerks is that you were a member? 

Really?  You muster up all the reading ability in English which you possess, and this is the outcome?  No, that's not my argument, or close to it.  My argument uses big words that have obviously gone right over your head.

[garbon]

DeSantis said that the incident in Oklahoma "so easily could have happened anywhere in America, and not just in the Greek system. It easily could have happened with a group of buddies sitting on the back of a pickup truck that never went to college."

Yeah me and my boys are always sitting around singing about committing hate crimes.  Happens everywhere in America everyday.

I know, it is why I left.

[Gups]

DeSantis said that the incident in Oklahoma "so easily could have happened anywhere in America, and not just in the Greek system. It easily could have happened with a group of buddies sitting on the back of a pickup truck that never went to college."

My pickup truck didn't go to college either. I hope it's not racist.

[Eddie Teach]

So, your argument that fraternities are not full of assholes and jerks is that you were a member? 

Note that he says nothing about curmudgeons or codgers. 

[alfred russel]

We are all about the outrage cycle now. A handful of college students say something really stupid, and that becomes national news, and will probably remain so until something else stupid happens that we can all be offended by.

[Sheilbh]

I don't think fraternities are any more evil than any other large collection of 18-22 year old boys.  They may be the largest and most organized group of 18-22 year old boys you will find anywhere, but I think the problem is more about the collection of dummies rather than the umbrella they share.

Largest and most organized would probably be the army.

Yeah, just see squaddies rampaging through Salisbury on a Friday night

[DontSayBanana]

I don't think we should be banning or penalizing things because others' perception of them is wrong.  It doesn't make for very interesting articles, and thus they don't get many clicks, so you don't hear about the enormous number of hours of volunteer work that Greek students do, or all of the charitable fundraising they do, or that the Greek GPA is almost always higher than the non-Greek GPA (based on 8 seconds of 'research').

I'm also not convinced that Greek students are any worse than the normal student, just like any other well known group they are easier to identify and label. 

If a normal average student cheats on a test he is an idiot and if anyone else finds out they just assume he is an idiot.  If a college football player cheats on a test the entire program is corrupt and all football players are uneducated thugs who don't even belong on college campuses.

If an unattached group of friends get into a a drunken bar fight they are just some idiots.  If they are wearing Greek letters on their shirts every other person who does or has ever worn those letters is a terrible human being.

As I acknowledged there are problems, and there are bad apples everywhere but fraternities and sororities have a huge net benefit to their campuses and the surrounding communities.  That is just harder to see and less interesting than the stupid shit that a small number of their members do.

Because others perceptions of the national organization are wrong, sure.  It could also be argued, though, that if the chapter themselves have formed that wrong an impression of the national org's values, the national org could be held responsible for ineffective governance in not correcting the misunderstanding.  Given that other chapters seem to hold the same views despite the national org's advice to the contrary, that sounds like a pattern to me.

[viper37]

We are all about the outrage cycle now. A handful of college students say something really stupid, and that becomes national news, and will probably remain so until something else stupid happens that we can all be offended by.

your election isn't until next year

[jimmy olsen]

Not surprising, but this stuff is everywhere among frats.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/penn-state-vows-punish-those-behind-kappa-delta-rho-page-n326031

Kappa Delta Rho Frat Facebook Page

The president of Pennsylvania State University called a fraternity's posting of pictured of nude and partially nude women "truly offensive behavior," but also said the university wouldn't rush to punish members of a Kappa Delta Rho chapter before an investigation is complete.

"I am very committed to making that sure we know exactly who is responsible, and then taking action on those who are responsible," Penn State President Eric Barron told reporters Wednesday. "We will do it right."

Barron urged any victims in the Penn State incident to come forward. "Obviously the evidence is offensive and just plain unacceptable," he said.

State College Police have launched an investigation into the Kappa Delta Rho chapter after a former member came forward with evidence the frat was operating an invite-only Facebook page that showed naked women who appeared to be passed out, hazing rituals and drug deals, authorities said. There have been no arrests.

The site at Penn State was discovered after a woman spotted a topless picture of herself on a page called "Covert Business Operations" while visiting the Kappa Delta Rho house, and confronted members who took the page down, according to a police search warrant filed on Jan. 30.

But a second page called "2.0." was set up shortly thereafter, and the page featured photos of "nude females who appeared to be passed out ... or in other sexual or embarrassing positions," as well as what appeared to be the sale of marijuana and cocaine, the warrant said.

The controversy at Penn State is only the latest involving fraternity members. The University of Oklahoma this month shut down a Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter after members were caught on video signing a racist song, and the college quickly expelled two students it said played a leadership role in the incident.

And Sigma Alpha Mu disbanded its University of Michigan chapter Tuesday over allegations members trashed a resort. Also on Tuesday, the president of the University of Houston suspended Epsilon Xi chapter of Sigma Chi Fraternity over hazing allegations.

The national headwquon Tuesday suspended the Penn State Kappa Delta Rho chapter for a year and said it would be reorganized. "The national leadership of Kappa Delta Rho is committed to hold our brothers accountable for their actions," Joseph S. Rosenberg, executive director of the national fraternity, said in a statement.

[derspiess]

Why did they get naked in the first place?

[garbon]

Why did they get naked in the first place?

Looks like alcohol and/or drugs.

[derspiess]

[garbon]

Not really sure what that says about anything though.

[Siege]

Why did they get naked in the first place?

[garbon]

What a benevolent fraternity...

http://news.yahoo.com/finally-know-truth-where-fraternity-learned-racist-song-143719438.html

We Finally Know the Truth About Where That Fraternity Learned a Racist Song

The mystery of where members of the University of Oklahoma chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon learned the racist song that appeared in a video that went viral earlier this month—and resulted in the chapter and two students being booted off campus—has been solved. On Friday, OU's president announced that after interviewing more than 160 students, school officials had determined that the chant is "widely known and informally shared" by members of SAE nationally, reported USA Today. OU's investigation determined that students were taught the chant while participating in a leadership cruise four years ago that was sponsored by the national fraternity.

Although the national office of Sigma Alpha Epsilon had previously stated that "the national fraternity does not teach such a racist, hateful chant, and this chant is not part of any education or training," on Friday SAE executive director Blaine Ayers confirmed OU's findings. Ayers said that so far there is no evidence that the offensive chant, "You can hang 'em from a tree...there will never be a [n-word] in SAE," is being sung by each of the fraternity's 237 chapters. However, "We remain committed to identifying and rooting out racist behavior from SAE, and we are actively investigating all of our local organizations to determine whether there are issues in any other location," Ayers said.