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Oklahoma frat shut down over racist chant caught on video

WATCH ABOVE: University of Oklahoma fraternity to close, suspend members after racist video posted online

WARNING: This post contains offensive language

NORMAN, Okla. – The president of the University of Oklahoma lambasted members of a fraternity on Monday who participated in a racist chant caught on video and ordered that their house be vacated by midnight.

President David Boren joined students at a pre-dawn rally on the Norman campus, just hours after the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity said an investigation confirmed the contents of the online video. The video shows several people chanting a racial slur and indicating blacks would never be admitted to the fraternity. The chant also references lynching.

“These people have acted in a way that’s absolutely reprehensible and disgraceful,” Boren said.

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The national fraternity released a statement Sunday night saying it was “embarrassed” by the “unacceptable and racist” behaviour. It also said it would close the local chapter. Boren later released a statement saying members had until midnight Tuesday to remove their personal belongings from the fraternity house.

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WATCH: “I’d be glad if they left”: OU Pres. on ‘racist’ students

A fraternity is an organization of male college students in the U.S.

The video was first posted online by a black student group at the university. It wasn’t immediately clear how it was obtained.

“This has broken my heart that this could happen on our campus. We have such a strong community. People respect each other. This is not representative of our students,” Boren said Monday.

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WATCH: Students protest at University of Oklahoma over racist remarks

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