SAE frat: Racist Oklahoma chant was taught at national leadership event

Two weeks ago, Sigma Alpha Epsilon national headquarters denounced the racist chants that saw the University of Oklahoma chapter of the fraternity disbarred and two students expelled.

The group stated that students must have learned it from each other and the fraternity on the larger scale had nothing to do with it.

"The national fraternity does not teach such a racist, hateful chant, and this chant is not part of any education or training," SAE said in a statement. "Our investigation has found very likely that the men learned the song from fellow chapter members, which reiterates why Sigma Alpha Epsilon did not hesitate to close the chapter completely because of the culture that may have been fostered in the group."

But on Friday, the group changed its tune, saying the chant - which referenced lynching black students - was taught at a national leadership event four years ago.

"The Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity 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."

SAE executive director Blaine Ayers said he doesn't believe the chant was learned across all 237 chapters and the investigation is ongoing.

"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. 

"Our current findings at the University of Oklahoma are similar to those announced on Friday by University of Oklahoma President David Boren." he added. "But our investigation to date shows no evidence the song was widely shared across the broader organization."