More than two weeks after a former University of Oklahoma student was seen on video singing a racist chant with his fraternity brothers, he publicly apologized, saying he is “deeply sorry” that, as a leader, he took part in it and failed to put a stop to it.
Levi Pettit made his statement Wednesday afternoon at a Baptist church in Oklahoma City following a meeting with leaders in the African American community. He and another former Sigma Alpha Epsilon member have been expelled from the University of Oklahoma, and the local fraternity chapter had been disbanded.
“I never thought of myself as a racist,” he said during a news conference. “I never even considered the possibility. But the bottom line is the words I said in the chant were mean and hateful — and racist. I will be deeply sorry and deeply ashamed of what I have done for the rest of my life.”
On March 10, University of Oklahoma students outside the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house after members of the fraternity were captured on video chanting a racial slur. (Sue Ogrocki/AP)
Earlier this month, Pettit and fellow fraternity member Parker Rice were identified in the video, chanting racial epithets: “There will never be a n—– SAE/There will never be a n—– SAE/You can hang ‘em from a tree, but it will never start with me/There will never be a n—– SAE.” The footage was posted online by an African American activist group at the university.
Soon after, Pettit’s parents, Brody and Susan Pettit, apologized for him.
“We were as shocked and saddened by this news as anyone,” they said two weeks ago in a statement. “Of course, we are sad for our son — but more importantly, we apologize to the community he has hurt. We would also like to apologize to the entire African American community, University of Oklahoma student body and administration. Our family has the responsibility to apologize, and also to seek forgiveness and reconciliation. Our words will only go so far — as a family, we commit to following our words with deeds.”
[Related: University of Oklahoma fraternity closed after racist chant]
On Wednesday, Pettit said the reason he had not come forward until now was because he was feeling “a mix of pain, shame, sorrow and fear.”
“I did not want to apologize to the press or to the whole country until I first came to apologize to those most directly impacted,” he said.
Over the past week, Pettit said, he has had meetings with African American students, pastors and civil rights leaders in the community to better understand the meaning behind the words he chanted onboard a charter bus earlier this month.
“Meeting with a few people does not change what I did, but it has begun to change me, and my understanding of those hateful words,” he said. “Without question, my words on that bus were disgusting and these words should never be repeated under any circumstance.
“I am also upset and embarrassed that I failed to stand up as a leader and stop this chant. I now have a clearer understanding of what lives behind the words. From this point forward, I will be the leader I should have been on the bus and stand up against racism in any form.”
[Related: Sigma Alpha Epsilon says it’s investigating additional racist ‘incidents’]
Oklahoma’s Legislative Black Caucus chair, State Sen. Anastasia Pittman, helped organize Wednesday’s event, which started with a closed-door meeting between Pettit and community leaders. She said Pettit contacted her after she released a statement saying she was “disheartened at the obvious lack of tolerance for diversity within these student fraternities.” On Wednesday, she said she believed his apology and forgave him, according to news reports.
“I received an apology from him, and I believe it’s sincere,” she told the Dallas Morning News. “But I told him it’s not about me, and that community leaders would need the same courtesy, so if he’s going to apologize to me, I’d rather he apologize to civic leaders, pastors, people who resonate with the pain. So he gets an opportunity to participate in a closed-door round-table discussion prior to the press conference and make sure he understands their struggles, their stories, their African-American experience. If we have an opportunity to use this as an educational tool, that’s my goal.”
Rice issued an apology through his father, Bob Rice, earlier this month — the same day Pettit’s parents released their statement.
“I know everyone wants to know why or how this happened,” he said in a statement. “I admit it likely was fueled by alcohol consumed at the house before the bus trip, but that’s not an excuse. Yes, the song was taught to us, but that too doesn’t work as an explanation. It’s more important to acknowledge what I did and what I didn’t do. I didn’t say no, and I clearly dismissed an important value I learned at my beloved high school, Dallas Jesuit. We were taught to be ‘Men for Others.’ I failed in that regard, and in those moments, I also completely ignored the core values and ethics I learned from my parents and others.”
[Related: Why expelled Oklahoma frat boys would have an ‘excellent chance’ in court]
Since the incident, the University of Oklahoma has been conducting an investigation and it is set to release those results during a news conference on Friday, a spokesman for university President David Boren told the Associated Press.
