OU reaches deal to end expulsions of SAE members
OKLAHOMA CITY - A lawyer for a now-disbanded fraternity at the University of Oklahoma whose members were caught engaging in a racist chant says an agreement has been reached that calls for no further student expulsions.
Stephen Jones told The Associated Press on Wednesday the deal was reached with university officials but declined to comment further about the details. He confirmed no additional members of the university's chapter of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity will be expelled under the agreement.
Separate messages left Wednesday with a university spokeswoman and OU President David Boren's press secretary were not immediately returned.
Boren severed ties with the fraternity and ordered two members expelled after video surfaced of students engaging in a chant that referenced lynching and declared black students would never be admitted as members.
Meanwhile, a former University of Oklahoma student who led the chant apologized personally to the leader of the state's Legislative Black Caucus and plans to meet with more civic leaders before speaking publicly about the incident for the first time, a state senator said Wednesday.
Sen. Anastasia Pittman said the student, Levi Pettit, called her personally to apologize after he and another fraternity member were caught on the video earlier this month.
Pittman said she has arranged for Pettit to meet with black students, elected officials, local pastors and civil rights leaders in Oklahoma.
"I wanted him to be educated on some of the struggles they've endured," Pittman said. "I think that will enlighten him and give him a new perspective on a culture that he is completely unaware of."
After the meeting, Pittman said Pettit also will speak at an afternoon press conference at a Baptist church on the city's predominantly black northeast side.
Pettit's parents, who live in the Dallas area, issued an apology on his behalf two weeks ago after the video's release caused an uproar on the university's campus in Norman, which is located about 20 miles south of Oklahoma City. A second student from the Dallas area, Parker Rice, also issued a statement apologizing for his role in the chant.