more on oklahoma

As suggested here, the New York Times has reported that the racist song heard on a tape at the University of Oklahoma was nothing new, but had been taught at a national convention of the relevant fraternity and was part of the regular ritual of the local chapter.   The article also reports that both liberal and conservative experts believe the decision to expel the relevant students had no serious legal basis.

In good conscience, the university should admit that it made a mistake and readmit the students, following appropriate apologies and some effort to compensate the offended parties. This might take the form of community service or other work on behalf of minority groups.

The fraternity is another matter.   I still believe it was an error to close it down immediately because it made further investigation difficult.   But plainly the culture at SAE, and OU generally, was accepting or even encouraging of overtly racist sentiment, and further effort to root that out seems both necessary and appropriate.