First they Came For The Racists

**Strike For The South** · 03-10-2015, 19:15

Recently a group of young men affiliated with the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity drunkenly chanted nigger on a bus.

Will someone explain to me how a public university can expel these students?

**Greyblades** · 03-10-2015, 19:29

How they can or how they won't?

**Strike For The South** · 03-10-2015, 19:35

They already have

**Greyblades** · 03-10-2015, 19:50

Huh... need caffeine.

Because the university is a private organisation and with the right contract details not read can kick out anyone they want?

**Strike For The South** · 03-10-2015, 20:43

In what realm is the university of Oklahoma a private organization

**Hooahguy** · 03-10-2015, 20:54

Well its not just that they were chanting a racist term, they were also chanting about lynching. Now they cant be prosecuted because of the 1st Amendment, but I wonder if theres a section on prohibiting hate speech in the university rules. One might even argue that the chanting was threatening since it was talking about lynching, so does the university have the right to kick out students who are seen as threatening other students?

**a completely inoffensive name** · 03-10-2015, 20:57

Originally Posted by Strike For The South

In what realm is the university of Oklahoma a private organization

In all honesty, I took it as fact that even public universities can dismiss students at their discretion as a stipulation of accepting you in the first place. I'm probably wrong about that though.

**Greyblades** · 03-10-2015, 21:10

Originally Posted by Strike For The South

In what realm is the university of Oklahoma a private organization

America's health care, government and courts are largely privatised. It wouldn't surprise me at this point to see state universities added to that list.

**a completely inoffensive name** · 03-10-2015, 21:38

Fair enough

**Papewaio** · 03-11-2015, 02:19

Originally Posted by Strike For The South

Recently a group of young men affiliated with the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity drunkenly chanted nigger on a bus.
Will someone explain to me how a public university can expel these students?

First the racists came for the people of colour, then they came for the ones who stood up for them and then the rest were herded up.

I think you are quoting the wrong side of the issue here. The racists foster an environment of hate that allows the like of KKK/neo-Nazi's and other hate groups to operate. The university is going head on against that, so they are in fact stopping the 'First they came for xyz'.

The university has a duty of care to its students and staff. I'm sure that someone stating they will lynch someone using a racist slur falls into one of if not many categories that would be written up as conduct that can get you expelled.

On top of that any endowments be they federal, state or private may be lost if they let the behaviour continue as it would be seen as providing a haven for racism.

tl;dr

Its the 2010's man, no longer do you get told by a racist where to sit on a bus, instead the racist on the bus now gets kicked off. Same applies to university.

**Seamus Fermanagh** · 03-11-2015, 02:56

Those students, as part of the application to the university, signed an agreement to abide by the rules of the university -- which almost certainly included a statement of zero tolerance for racism.

They signed the contract and thus and therewith made themselves subject to the policies of the university and any sanctions designed to enforce same.

So, Strike, your real argument is whether any taxpayer-funded university has a right to restrict free speech that is not a direct incitement to violence even where such free speech is against the beliefs of the vast bulk of the university community and the citizens of the polity that fund it.

**a completely inoffensive name** · 03-11-2015, 09:44

Originally Posted by Seamus Fermanagh

So, Strike, your real argument is whether any taxpayer-funded university has a right to restrict free speech that is not a direct incitement to violence even where such free speech is against the beliefs of the vast bulk of the university community and the citizens of the polity that fund it.

It kind of goes back to the purpose of a university. If the purpose of a university isn't to allow ideas of all quality to battle for the minds of students, well then we need to establish what exactly this new purpose is.

EDIT: On the other hand this clearly isn't a statement for educational purposes or defense but a private moment among a fraternity, which only exists on campus on the whim of the university in the first place.