“There will never be a n***** in SAE. You can hang him from a tree, but he can never sign with me.” A lynching song to the melody of “If Your Happy and You Know It.” That was the chant sung by a group of fraternity boys from the Oklahoma Chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
Fraternities have been rightfully under fire for their part in playing into sexist, racist, and homophobic practices that, while not sanctioned, are undoubtedly part of the long history of institutional issues on campuses.
SAE also has a history of sexual assault issues with some of the most recent being earlier this year when there were two alleged sexual assaults at Iowa State University, one of which took place at a Sigma Alpha Epsilon party. The fraternity experiences these instances so often that the acronym has also come to be known as, “Sexual Assault Expected”.
They are considered the nation’s deadliest fraternity and schools are starting to turn down requests to open new locations because, well, shit like this.
President of Oklahoma University, David Boren, released this statement:
“All of our ties to that organization on our campus are severed, and I’ve given them till midnight tomorrow night to get their things out of the fraternity house. After that time, it will be totally closed and they’ll have to make special arrangements to even get their belongings out of the house,” he told KOKH. “And as they take their belongings out of the house, I hope they reflect on what they’ve done.”
SAE headquarters has officially closed its chapter at the University of Oklahoma.
