'Disgraceful' University of Oklahoma fraternity shuttered after racist chant

Even with the national chapter shutting the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house at the University of Oklahoma, the school president said the university's affiliation with the fraternity is permanently done as a campus group called for the expulsion of fraternity members.

The members have until midnight Tuesday to get their things out of the house, university President David Boren said in a Monday afternoon news conference.

"The house will be closed, and as far as I'm concerned, they won't be back," he said, adding that the university is exploring what actions it can take against individual fraternity members.

A Saturday video showing party-bound fraternity members on a bus chanting a racial epithet found its way anonymously to the school newspaper and a campus organization, which both promptly publicized the nine-second clip.

The students on the bus clap and pump their fists as they boisterously chant, "There will never be a ni**** SAE. You can hang him from a tree, but he can never sign with me."

By Sunday night, SAE's national chapter had suspended the University of Oklahoma members and threatened lifelong suspensions for anyone responsible for the chant, but Boren took it a step further.

President declares 'zero tolerance'

First, he appeared at a campus rally and told students over a bullhorn, "I have a message for those who have misused their freedom of speech in this way. My message to them is: You're disgraceful. You have violated every principle that this university stands for."

Andrew Clark @Clarky_Tweets

David Boren on those involved in the incident: You're a disgrace. @OUDaily

1:33 PM - 9 Mar 2015

In remarks to CNN's Don Lemon, he said that he was angered, outraged and saddened by what he saw in the video.

Boren stressed that the fraternity members' behavior is not indicative of what University of Oklahoma students, nicknamed Sooners, represent.

"It was unbelievable that this could have possibly occurred with UO students," he said. "Sooners are not racists. They're not bigots. They are people who respect each other and care about each other."

He called for zero tolerance.

"The only way you put a stop to it is have zero tolerance when it is found out. Clearly, I think some of our students wanted this exposed. They wanted this video out there, and I've asked them to please let me know when they're other things like this that happen," Boren told CNN.