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Student, family apologize for racist chant at University of Oklahoma fraternity

University of Oklahoma students march to the now-closed University of Oklahoma’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house during a rally Tuesday in Norman, Okla. (Associated Press)
Hailey Branson-Potts And Matt Pearce Los Angeles Times

Hours after the University of Oklahoma expelled two members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity Tuesday for leading a racist chant in a video that went viral, one student apologized, and the parents of the other student apologized for him.

The national fraternity said the chant did not reflect its 15,000 collegiate members, but also said that other incidents involving other chapters and other members had come to light and would be investigated.

“This is absolutely not who we are,” SAE said in a statement.

“We apologize for the unacceptable and racist behavior of the individuals in the video, and we are disgusted that any member would act in such a way,” the fraternity said.

University President David Boren had announced the students’ expulsions for playing a “leadership role” in the chant, which he said created a hostile environment for other students. A day earlier, he banned the fraternity from campus and evicted the members from their house.

Anonymous sources had sent the video to a black activist group on campus and the student newspaper on Sunday.

“We will continue our investigation of all the students engaged in the singing of this chant,” Boren said in a statement Tuesday. “Once their identities have been confirmed, they will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action.”

The university did not identify either expelled student, but their identities came to light later Tuesday. A Catholic high school in Dallas identified one as an alumni, Parker Rice, who is featured prominently in the video, wearing a tuxedo and smiling as he leads the chant.

Rice, an OU freshman, issued a statement to the Dallas Morning News.

“I am deeply sorry for what I did Saturday night,” he said. “It was wrong and reckless.”

Rice said his family had to leave home “because of threatening calls as well as frightening talk on social media.”

He also said he withdrew from the university on Monday.

The other student was identified as Levi Pettit. His parents, Brody and Susan Pettit, said they were “shocked and saddened.” Their son “made a horrible mistake and will live with the consequences forever. … He is a good boy, but what we saw in those videos is disgusting.”