Another video of sorority member using racial slur on social media emerges
October 8, 2019
Another video has emerged of a WKU sorority member using a racial slur. The Herald obtained a screen-recorded video from the Chi Omega bid day Snapchat story in which a Chi O member used a racial slur while singing along to “Act Up” by City Girls. Director of Media Relations Bob Skipper confirmed the video’s legitimacy.
The university was made aware of the video the same day it was posted, Aug. 20, Skipper said. Charley Pride, director of Student Activities, spoke with the chapter’s president and adviser that night, and the national organization was made aware of the incident the following morning, Skipper said.
The WKU chapter was told how the video “could be perceived,” and removed it from Snapchat, Skipper said.
“I don’t know if the national has — if they’ve taken any action against them, but I think they were on the same page in trying to do some education with how a post like that could be perceived,” Skipper said.
Skipper said he had no way of knowing what action the national chapter had taken.
Members went through training on “how certain things can be perceived and misunderstood and for people to be more thoughtful about things they might post on social media,” Skipper said. That training was primarily focused on sensitivity and social media postings, Skipper said.
WKU’s Chi O chapter president, Michaela Brangers, said only the national organization could comment on the issue.
The news comes after a video posted to Twitter on Aug. 30 showed members of the Alpha Xi Delta singing along to a song that contained the same slur.
Similarly, Skipper said any discipline for AXiD would be set by the national organization. Which decided to not take any disciplinary action against the chapter, according to a statement it released.
The Chi O and AXiD situations were different because the Chi O video only showed one person, as opposed to the AXiD one, which included multiple people, Skipper said.
The national Chi O organization did not respond to three phone calls requesting comment.
Print Managing Editor Laurel Deppen can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on twitter at @laurel_deppen.
