Running head: THE RESPONSE 1

THE RESPONSE 7

University of Oklahoma: The ResponseTempris E. DanielsLoyola University Chicago

IntroductionThere will never be a n**** in SAE. There will never be a n**** in SAE. You can hang him from a tree, but he can never sign with me. There will never be a n**** in SAE (Kingkade, 2015). This chant contains the offensive words that the Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter at the University of Oklahoma (OU) repeated while on a bus to a fraternity social event. This occurrence comes to a surprise to the entire OU community where immediate action took place including the student activist group Unheard OU planning a protest and TV stations across the country broadcasted the event. In addition, the President of the college prepared a speech concerning the issue and expressing his disappointment, while the national headquarters for Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) closed down their chapter at OU based on the fact the organization deemed the actions unacceptable. Using the SAE incident, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the Sigma Alpha Epsilon occurrence using the How Colleges Work, How Colleges Change, and Organizational Theory in Higher Education text. The goal is to evaluate the situation from an application lens, helping one to better comprehend the organizational and governance structure.Sigma Alpha Epsilon and University of Oklahoma President ConnectionBirnbaum (1998) speaks to social justice issues and diversity explaining that we all deal with these social concerns on campus and we must continue to converse about them in order to educate others. In particular he explains, Presidents should give major attention to the processes through which information is disseminated on campus (Birnbaum, 1998, p. 219). OUs President, David Boren, made a strong presence as the conversation continued on campus regarding the fraternities actions. His awareness of how students, staff, faculty, and communities took to the ignorant words triggered the importance of him communicating a strong message. The message given speaks loud and clear, allowing the OU community to stay in a place where respect is present. The President said the following: To those who have misused their free speech in such a reprehensible way, I have a message for you. You are disgraceful You have violated all that we stand for. You should not have the privilege of calling yourself Sooners. Real Sooners are not racist. Real Sooners are not bigots. Real Sooners believe in equal opportunity. Real Sooners treat all people with respect. Real Sooners love each other and take care of each other like family members (Shapiro, 2015).

Without the Presidents presence, the backlash of the situation might have looked quite different. Many colleges and universities function using an organizational chart and the President is at the top. His highly developed competence impacts everyone under him creating a communication channel between the University that provides both successful and unsuccessful relations. Furthermore, social cognition plays a major role in relation to SAE and the Presidents views. As previously stated, the President was ashamed of how the students acted and what they were representing versus the possibility of chanting words that might have no meaning to the individual (chanting just to be apart of the group). Social cognition theory discovered that people often hold unconscious views that shape their worldwide; that peoples views were complex and built on prior views (Kezar, 2014, p. 29). After continually listening to a fraternity repeat the lyrics to their song, thoughts about how long this tradition has gone on dating back to Founders Day has to be a concern. This possibility provides a reason for social cognition theory as it speaks to colleges addressing concerns in order to change it. There is belief that some of the students chanting, simply did this because it was something they were taught to complete during their new member period. Does that make it right? Absolutely not, but students could have ignorantly taken the perspective that it is just words. One of the SAE brothers, 19-year-old Parker Rice, released a statement speaking to how the song was taught to them although it is not an explanation for his actions (Pendleton, 2015). In conjunction with Kezar (2014), the notion is made that people are more likely to change their views if they receive feedback (p.30). These students have clearly received notions from the university that their action was not suitable, but the damage to the system is set. Closer attention has to be put on what Greek life members are promoting as well as any other student leaders on campus because they are the grassroots. As a community, we know that thousands of students have received a diploma from OU after screaming and teaching the racist chant. The social change that happens now is prompted to create a Greek life community that is inclusive. Sigma Alpha Epsilon and House Mother ConnectionsComprehensiveness does not end with the conversations between OU students and the President. This event shows that the proper house mom needs to be hired to help create and maintain a space where inclusiveness and social justice is present. Beauton Gilbow, the fraternity house mother, insist that she is not racist although the words she repeats on a separate video suggest otherwise. Although the house mother claimed she was not aware, it is most likely that these men sang the words often and in their fraternity house. The fact that there are multiple members of the house chanting ni**** shows there is nothing less than intentionally in their actions. These actions show that social cognition theory is implied on an individual level as well (Kezar, 2014). Although Gilbow says she was singing along to the song All Gold Everything by Trinidad James, she is missing the big picture by saying she is not racist because she has friends of all races. As a leader failing to understand the big picture, as social cognition explains, students may also not see the wrong in their doing (Kezar, 2014). Manning (2013) suggest, The notion that certain ideas are the best and survive because they deserve to last forever is a powerful sustaining myth (p. 16). The OU President quickly embraced the need to change by banning the fraternity from campus. On the other hand, Gilbow felt that the actions towards her showed betrayal and that her life for the last 15 years is now gone. In Gilbows response she spoke more to what was being done to the SAE community than to what the SAE community did to the OU population. The substance of her argument implies that a students negative actions should not be punished yet suggests connectedness. Sigma Alpha Epsilon and National Headquarter ConnectionsContrasting with Gilbows argument, SAEs national headquarters, one of the largest fraternities in North America becomes aware of the video and releases the following statement:"We apologize for the unacceptable and racist behavior of the individuals in the video, and we are disgusted that any member would act in such a way Furthermore, we are embarrassed by this video and offer our empathy not only to anyone outside the organization who is offended but also to our brothers who come from a wide range of backgrounds, cultures and ethnicities (Kingkade, 2015).

The SAE national president announced that the OU chapter has been cease and desist. The fact that the national organization has been involved and expressed their concerns demonstrates the agency/leadership in the association. This type of change expresses a top bottom versus bottom up leadership style and values both collective and shared leadership. The use of grassroots leadership in the SAE case reveals potential negatives that are associated with the roles of individuals within the organization and their contributions (Kezar, 2014). In this case, the national headquarter for SAEs impact of history, values, and context changed for the OU chapter where the grassroots caused an negative effect. The national headquarter for SAE, although not directly on a university campus connects with how colleges are working and changing. If the headquarters deemed the fraternitys actions appropriate, then what does that say about the organization at large. Additionally, it sends a negative message that OU could have been harsh in banning the fraternity because of their actions. This perspective corresponds with the collegial model including relationship building, participation, and mutual respect (Birnbaum, 1988). All three aspects display the partnership between the national headquarters and OU to assist in creating a positive change. Using both parties in this situation, neither is considered superior in the situation but has provided a sense of community through conversations with each other (Kingkade, 2015). This method truly displays the supportive yet disciplinary role where OU has to consider the rest of the campus and the national headquarter considers the rest of the chapters around the country. Where Do We Go From Here?The universitys President, house mom, and national headquarters all bring different perspectives to organizational theories and college systems because each viewpoint does not come directly from a place where they must adhere to the universitys system. Often times in order to maintain power for the president while ensuring success, schools look to hire and retain the highest quality to manage the institution (Manning, 2013). Even further, nationwide current events shape how incidents are handled. For example, due to the recent highly publicized racist acts in the United States, the President felt the pressure to make a powerful statement. Moving forward for OU, Greek life must build leadership relationships that offer depth versus exclusion. Although this is a very recent event, OU is proactively changing their system. Kezar (2013) illustrates that sense making is a major step that takes place when looking to change mindsets. For OUs system, there are three different mindset changes taking place including: the fraternity brothers, the on-campus community, and the off-campus community. Making sense of what has happened on campus and recognizing that there are steps the institution has to take to move forward provides opportunities for ongoing conversation and a needed change in the organizational and governance system.

References

Birnbaum, R. (1988). How colleges work: The cybernetics of academic organization and leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Kezar, A. (2014). How colleges change: Understanding, leading, and enacting change. New York: Routledge.Kingkade, T. (2015). Oklahoma frat boys caught singing 'there will never be a ni**** in SAE'. Retrieved March 11, 2015, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/08/frat-racist-sae-oklahoma_n_6828212.htmlManning, K. (2013). Organizational theory in higher education. New York: Routledge.Pendleton, K. (2015). Family of disgraced OU student gives emotional response to racist chant video. Retrieved March 11, 2015, from http://www.ijreview.com/2015/03/267940-draft-ou-student-family-apologize/Shapiro, E. (2015). Oklahoma sigma alpha epsilon: University president severs ties with frat, sorority also investigates. Retrieved March 11, 2015, from http://abcnews.go.com/US/oklahoma-sigma-alpha-epsilon-university-president-severs-ties/story?id=29500229