On March 8th, the SAE (Sigma Alpha Epsilon) Fraternity at the University of Oklahoma, caused a controversy when a video from one of their events showed a group of fraternity brothers using a racial slur in their fraternity “chant.” One of the lyrics from the chant includes, “There will never be a n—-r at SAE. You can hang them from a tree, but they will never sign with me, there will never be a n—er at SAE.”

Maybe it is time that there is a call to action for college students across the country and to college fraternities in particular: Degrading, racist, sexist, offensive, hurtful behavior should not be tolerated. President of the University of Oklahoma, David Boren, acted quickly in ordering the members of the frat house off of his campus, and expelling two of the members who had been involved in leading the chant.

In a letter addressed to the two students, Boren explained the decision for expulsion as the students misused their “leadership role[s] in leading a racist and exclusionary chant which has created a hostile educational environment for others.”

Maybe this incident is going to start to paint a picture of what is going on and what is tolerated among these fraternity houses. The members of these houses need to understand that parties are fine, but why are they only fun at the expense and degradation of others? They need to look long and hard at themselves and their behavior.

The atmosphere has to change among many of these fraternity houses. They often host racist events, such as a party in which people all arrived wearing “black face,” or one where they all dressed like black gang members. They also practice sexist policies, like having a party and posting members at the doors only letting those they deemed “pretty” inside and telling others “no ugly girls allowed,” or the number of sexual assaults that have happened after parties with tons of substance abuse.

The frats have seemed to turn into a culture of wild, offensive, and degrading men, hell-bent on nothing but partying. This, of course, is not true for all, but on every college campus nowadays you hear of this offensive behavior. Maybe it is time for fraternities to be a thing of the past.