A singalong video hits social media at UA Little Rock.
Some say the chorus is being sung by the wrong choir.
“White people shouldn’t be saying that word,” Makell Swinney says.
Swinney is a junior at UA Little Rock. He saw the video just a couple days ago.
The video features students singing a song filled with racial slurs.
It reportedly features members of the Chi Omega sorority and the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity chanting along to the song ‘Freaky Friday’ where the N-word is repeated.
“I don’t take it lightly,” Rashad Roberts says.
“Don’t tell me to take it lightly.”
Roberts is a UA Little Rock graduate. He posted the video after getting it from a friend.
Backlash from the video is booming with many asking for action.
“If the university is serious about addressing this and not just having us as token students for diversity, they need to address this,” Roberts says.
UA Little Rock announced on Thursday that its Chi Omega and Pi Kappa Alpha chapters had been suspended from certain campus activities. Chancellor Andrew Rogerson released the following statement:
“Over the weekend, there was a racially insensitive incident involving individuals within two Greek organizations at UA Little Rock. The students were singing along with a rap song that was recorded in a video that contained offensive lyrics. The University of Arkansas at Little Rock values diversity and inclusion as an important part of our campus community. There is no place for racial discrimination at UA Little Rock. Upon learning about the incident, the university took immediate steps to begin investigation of the incident and contacted the respective national fraternity and sorority headquarters for their own investigations. We are reviewing the behavior in relation to our Code of Student Conduct for any possible violations and will take appropriate steps as outlined in the student handbook. In the interim, the organizations have been restricted in their participation in campus programs and activities. On Friday morning staff and administrators from a number of university offices will be available to talk with concerned students in the Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity. The university is taking this situation very seriously because it violates every principle for which we stand.”
The Chi Omega chapter at UA Little Rock also released a statement on Thursday which reads as:
“The Chi Omega Executive Headquarters is currently working with our chapter leadership and is in contact with University of Arkansas-Little Rock officials. All Chi Omega Sisters are educated on expectations for membership and, as a condition of membership, each individual is expected to be respectful of one another and display personal integrity at all times, including on social media.”
In an e-mail to students, UA Little Rock outlined a few things that they plan to do moving forward. It included:
- Expanding efforts of its diversity council.
- mpetencies.Increase student programming on cultural co
- Adding an entirely new office titled The Office of Multicultural Student Support Services.
A search for the director of that office is already underway.
