National
SAE Trustees: ‘Horrible Cancer’ Entered University of Oklahoma Chapter
The international headquarters of Sigma Alpha Epsilon is seen in Evanston, Illinois on March 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford)
NORMAN, Okla. (CBS News) — Leaders and alumni of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at the University of Oklahoma acknowledged Wednesday the racist chant at the center of a firestorm was not new to the chapter.
In a statement released Wednesday evening, the OU chapter’s board of trustees said it “has discovered that a horrible cancer entered into the OU chapter of SAE three to four years ago and was not immediately and totally stopped. It should have been.”
“We are sincerely remorseful for the pain that this terrible chant has caused and would ask for forgiveness,” the statement read.
“For the safety of the students that were involved and the students who were not involved, our desire would be for all parties to begin the healing process,” the board of trustees said. “We hope that this despicable situation will forever change an atmosphere that would even allow an incident like this to take place.”
