A member of the Oklahoma chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon posted a video of the fraternity brothers on a bus yelling a chant, which contained racist remarks. Two Caucasian members of the fraternity, clad in tuxedos, led the rest of their brothers saying “You can hang him from a tree, but he’ll never sign with me. There will never be a n**** SAE.”

The charter of the involved chapter was subsequently suspended from the university. David Boren, the president of the University of Oklahoma, closed the fraternity entirely. All members had two days to vacate the premises. On March 10, two members were expelled from the university.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s creed requires that all members of the fraternity be “true gentleman.” All other chapters of the brotherhood have denounced these racist chants, and say they welcome all who agree with their motto.

This racial slur was not the first controversy SAE has started. A few weeks ago, the Stanford chapter of SAE had their housing rights suspended for two years on account of the sexual harassment of several women.

The fraternity also has a history of parties where alcohol was served to minors. The UC Davis chapter was closed in 2012 following one of these mishaps. The fraternity on the USC campus was also suspended for about three years as the result of repeated rule breaking. Among the rules violated were those that regulated alcohol.

Perhaps the worst incident in SAE history was the death of a newly recruited freshman in 2008 due to alcohol poisoning. The 18 year old was hazed, meaning to perform strenuous, humiliating, or dangerous tasks in order to obtain membership in a selective community. The chapter was closed due to obvious reasons, and four former members were sentenced to jail for their involvement in the case.

Due to these incidents, the fraternity has lost all respect from outside communities.