SUMMARY: In the article “Why Expelled Oklahoma Frat Boys Would Have an ‘Excellent Chance’ in Court” published by the Washington Post on March 11, 2015, we learn about a fraternity from the University of Oklahoma posting a video of members of their Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter singing racist chants on a bus. After the leak of the video, the campus chapter was immediately closed and the two leaders of the racist chants were identified and issued apologies. The two leaders of the chant were expelled by the school but there is some concern that having a public institution punishing speech that is technically protected under the first amendment. When the issue was taken to court, both the idea that the saying could be violating the school’s code of conduct and also the one mentioned before were considered.
ANALYSIS: I believe that it was wrong for the fraternity to have done what it did but that the school made a punishment for the act that they really did not have the power to do. I believe it was extremely harsh to punish the whole fraternity as a whole. Not only has this affected that chapter of SAE but it has also affected the other chapters of that fraternity from other schools. I think that the final decision of the court in where this case is going on should be in favor of the two Oklahoma students who were exposed for their racial slurs. They should not have been punished as hard as they were because it goes against the First Amendment, but should have gotten more punishment from the fraternity itself because it is a private institution unlike the school.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
What is your opinion on the issue?
Do you think the school had the right to dissolve the fraternity and expel the two classmates?
LINK TO ARTICLE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/03/11/expelled-oklahoma-students-have-an-excellent-chance-of-succeeding-if-they-sue/
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