EVANSTON, Ill., March 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Sigma Alpha
Epsilon Fraternity (SAE) on Friday confirmed members of its former
University of Oklahoma chapter
likely learned a racist chant while attending a national leadership
school about four years ago.
However, SAE Executive Director Blaine
Ayers said the organization has no current evidence that the
chant is widespread across the fraternity's 237 groups. Ayers said
SAE continues its in-depth investigation of its chapters.
"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. "We intend to conduct a thorough and
complete investigation, and this will take time. However, we will
share the results of our investigation when it is complete. Our
current findings at the University of
Oklahoma are similar to those announced on Friday by OU
president David Boren. But our
investigation to date shows no evidence the song was widely shared
across the broader organization."
Ayers said he contacted Boren on Friday to acknowledge the
university's investigation and to assure Boren that SAE is
continuing its own investigation.
SAE invites hundreds of leaders annually to a six-day leadership
retreat, where participants attend classes, seminars and other
educational functions throughout the day and evening. While
attendees have little social time, there are occasions when
participants can gather socially.
Ayers said it is likely that during one of these social
gatherings, some members shared the racist song that was recorded
on video at OU and shared through social media earlier this
month.
SAE closed its OU chapter immediately after seeing the video,
and subsequently announced a four-point initiative – including an
anonymous hotline, mandatory online sensitivity training, the
hiring of a diversity and inclusion officer and the appointment of
a national advisory panel on diversity and inclusion – to eradicate
racism and other forms of discrimination from the fraternity.
"The song is horrific and does not at all reflect our values as
an organization," said Ayers. "If we find any other examples of
this kind of behavior currently occurring, we will hold our members
accountable, just as we've done in Oklahoma."
About SAE
Sigma Alpha Epsilon, founded in 1856, is one
of the nation's largest national social fraternities, with 237
chapters and colonies and approximately 15,000 collegiate members
and 200,000 living alumni. Our creed is known as "The True
Gentleman," and our mission is to promote the highest standards of
friendship, scholarship and service for our members based upon the
ideals set forth by our Founding Fathers and enunciated in our
creed.
Contact:
Brandon Weghorst
Associate Executive Director of Communications
(847) 424-3038
bweghorst@SAE.net
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SOURCE Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity