Two Students Leave University of Oklahoma After Blackface Video Surfaces

Another video of a student in blackface has surfaced at the University of Oklahoma (OU).


The female student, in question, is a former member of Delta Delta Delta Sorority better known as the Tri-Delt. She was seen in a viral Snapchat video wearing blackface and saying, “I’m a n—–.” Another student was laughing in the background.

Many of the students at the university wanted the girl to be expelled. OU President James Gallogly specified that the video was made off-campus.

Via Twitter, Gallogly announced: “Those students will not return to campus. This type of behavior is not welcome here and is condemned in the strongest terms by me and by our university.”

Although he wouldn’t name the girls, other than to say they were sophomores, he did say that they left the school voluntarily after the fallout of the video.

“They decided on their own to withdraw,” Gallogly said on Monday. “Under the circumstances, they could see that our culture rejects this kind of behavior in no uncertain term, I think it became very clear to them that this type behavior is not only local news, but state news and national news.”

“I think they’re very surprised by the reaction. Simply put, this type of racist video has no place here or any place else,” Gallogy added.

The sorority also issued a statement, regarding the incident. “Our chapter condemns the racist, offensive and disgraceful conduct of the two women involved in the video,” chapter president London Moore said. “The woman who participated in, filmed and posted the video is no longer a member of our organization.”

Even though the Greek-lettered organization denounced the girl’s behavior, students spoke out strongly against the video and what it represented.

“As a woman of color, I’m hurt by the whole thing,” said senior Janae Reeves.

“It doesn’t make sense to me as a human being why they would think that kind of behavior is okay. It’s not enough. If they think they can say what they want with little to no consequences, nothing will change.” said junior Marisa Nuzzo.

Finally, Taylor Stephenson indicated that this is a common occurrence. “This kind of thing happens a lot on campus. It’s more frequent than people think. While, yes, it’s freedom of speech, it’s also hate speech and that’s not what we promote at the University of Oklahoma,” said the sophomore.

About four years ago, The University of Oklahoma shut down its Sigma Alpha Epsilon house after fraternity members were caught on tape chanting the n-word and making light of lynching.

Clearly, the university’s statement is simple rhetoric. The only genuine way to ensure that this behavior stops is for the university to take swift and harsh action with every incident. There seems to be a major disconnect between students identified as normal behavior and what the university states isn’t an issue.

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