Last week, Syracuse University suspended its Theta Tau fraternity after private Facebook videos were discovered that featured “words and behaviors that are extremely racist, anti-semitic, homophobic, sexist, and hostile to people with disabilities.” The group issued an apology letter claiming that the sketch in the video was intended to be satirical and that the fraternity brothers in question did not share the same views as the characters they were playing. Despite the apology, the university made the decision to permanently expel the fraternity over the weekend.
Now the frat members themselves are in hot water, after a second offensive video has turned up mimicking the sexual assault of person with disabilities. The university’s Department of Public Safety Chief Bobby Maldonado announced Sunday in a campus-wide email that complaints had been filed against 18 students involved, who are effectively suspended pending an ongoing investigation, and that “others may be implicated in the coming days.”
Those 18 individuals have also been removed from academic participation out of an “abundance of caution” and concern for the university community, Maldonado said. Alternate class and study arrangements will be made for those students during the university’s judicial process, the chief said.
When we live in a day and age where we literally have Nazis marching on Charlottesville, universities appear to be sending a clear message that there is a zero tolerance policy when it comes to this sort of behavior.
You can view an excerpt of the video here, but please note that it contains graphic content.
(Via The Daily Orange)