Georgetown College’s Student–Run Newspaper
January 23, 2019
Volume CXXXVIV Issue 1
Video of University of Oklahoma Tri Delta wearing blackface goes viral By DEMETRIUS HARRISON
News Editor Two women within the Theta Gamma chapter of University of Oklahoma’s Tri Delta have been excused from their chapter and left the university after posting a Snapchat video using racial slurs. On Fri. Jan. 18, another student posted the Snapchat video on Twitter. The video went viral, exposing the Caucasian woman smearing black paint on her face while her friend laughs and records saying, “Stop! You’ve got too much. That’s paint, not a face mask.” The video camera flips, exposing two blonde women chuckling as the female painted in blackface says, “I am a n----r” to the camera. Once UO officials discovered the video, they quickly condemned it, announcing they had launched an investigation on the students. On Sat. Jan. 19, the University’s Theta Gamma chapter of the Delta Delta Delta sorority, also known as Tri Delta, confirmed that it had expelled the student who had recorded and posted the video from the sorority. Furthermore, the chapter called the students’
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behavior “abhorrent.” On Monday, OU President James Gallogly announced that the two students voluntarily left the college. Gallogly explained that university officials were unable to expel students because the video recording took place off-campus. Expelling the students would create legal boundaries in how they could respond as a public university. President Gallogly held a press conference announcing, “Those students won’t return to campus. This type of behavior is not welcomed here and is condemned in the strongest terms by me and by our university.” Furthermore, Gallogly classified the Snapchat video as “demeaning,” informing media reporters that the two sophomores had been “very surprised by the reaction” to the video. The UO President continued by saying, “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 of behavior is not only local news, but state
news and national news.” Gallogly and other university officials are still continuing with the investigation to assure there was not a third student involved in the controversial recording. Students attending the University of Oklahoma had initially criticized their university for not taking any disciplinary action against the two students. Students were also outraged the university released a statement saying that the sophomore students had offered to apologize. Joshua Davis, Junior Industrial Systems Engineering major, commented to a local media outlet that, “It’s really sad to see this happening in 2019 because you’d think we moved forward, but it’s racism. Racism is a sickness.” Gallogly explained that school officials first heard of the video upon it going viral on Twitter Friday and immediately began investigating; however, officials are unaware of when the students recorded it. “It very clearly is racist,” he said at the Monday press conference. “It’s on its face
of the school’s chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity were recorded singing a racist song on a bus in unison. After the university investigated, the school expelled two students involved in the video and shut down the OU SAE chapter. In an additional response, the National Association of Black Journalists stated that “in the year 2019, it is disappointing that we still have to deal with incidents such as this.” In his remarks Monday, Gallogly Source: Twitter recognized that the Screencapture of Snapchat video of school has faced two student painted in blackface. serious racism controversies in the last racist, and we should call it several years, and is in need of what it is.” “systemic” change. The University’s Black Gallogly noted, “More Student Association issued a needs to be done. I heard strongly-worded statement them. More will be done.” announcing they were “not The University’s president surprised” by the blackface has also confirmed that he had video. accepted his personal invitaFurthermore, the released tion to address students at a statement referenced a 2015 rally against racism organized incident at the University of by the Black Student AssociaOklahoma in which members tion.
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