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University of Oklahoma agrees not to expel more fraternity members – lawyer Expelled University of Oklahoma fraternity member 'deeply ashamed' of racist chant
(about 2 hours later)
A former University of Oklahoma fraternity member has apologized for his role in leading a racist chant on a bus where he and fellow college students used offensive language regarding membership of black students in their fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
Levi Pettit met Wednesday behind closed doors with African American community leaders, and later spoke publicly for the first time since video of the chant was released.
Related: University of Oklahoma fraternity closed and members suspended over racist videoRelated: University of Oklahoma fraternity closed and members suspended over racist video
A lawyer for a now-disbanded fraternity at the University of Oklahoma – whose members were caught engaging in a racist chant – says an agreement has been reached that calls for no further student expulsions. The 20-year-old former fraternity member stood in front of a podium, ringed by the black community leaders with whom he had just met, and apologized profusely: “I am sorry, I’m sorry, deeply sorry, so sorry for all the pain I caused. Although I don’t deserve it I want to ask for your forgiveness. There are no excuses for my behavior.”
Stephen Jones told the Associated Press on Wednesday the deal was reached with university officials but declined to comment further about the details. He confirmed no additional members of the university’s chapter of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity will be expelled under the agreement. After the video was leaked earlier this month, a public uproar led the university to shut down the fraternity and expel both Pettit and fellow fraternity member Parker Rice. A lawyer for the fraternity told the Associated Press on Wednesday that school officials had agreed to expel no further members of the fraternity.
Separate messages left on Wednesday with a university spokeswoman and the university president David Boren’s press secretary were not immediately returned. Pettit described the words he said, which included a reference to lynching, as “mean, hateful and racist”, and said he would be “deeply sorry and deeply ashamed for the rest of my life”.
Boren severed ties with the fraternity and ordered two members expelled after video surfaced of students engaging in a chant that referenced lynching and declared black students would never be admitted as members. He then went on to describe what he had learned in the process. “The people I have met with have opened my eyes to things not exposed to; these stories and lessons and insight they have shared with me are things I will carry with me for rest of my life.”
At the end of the press conference, Pettit said that if, in his everyday life, “I ever see racism in any form public or private, I believe I now have the courage and insight to refute that kind of behavior”.