Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/486997
BySeanMurphy The Associated Press NORMAN, OKLA. Members of a University of Okla- homa fraternity apparently learned a racist chant that recently got their chap- ter disbanded during a na- tional leadership cruise four years ago that was sponsored by the fraterni- ty's national administra- tion, the university's pres- ident said Friday. President David Boren said the school interviewed more than 160 people dur- ing its investigation into members of its now-de- funct Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter who were captured on video taking part in the chant, which included ref- erences to lynching, a racial slur and the promise that the fraternity would never accept a black member. "That chant was learned and brought back to the lo- cal chapter," Boren said at a news conference in which he disclosed the school in- vestigation's findings. "Over time, the chant was formal- ized by the local chapter and was taught to pledges as part of the formal and in- formal pledgeship process." Brandon Weghorst, a spokesman for SAE's na- tional administration, which is based in Evan- ston, Illinois, said the orga- nization planned to release a statement in response to the university's findings. Boren said about 25 members of the school's SAE chapter will face pun- ishment ranging from two expulsions the school an- nounced previously to man- datory community service and cultural sensitivity training. The video, which surfaced earlier this month, showed fraternity members yelling the chant on a char- tered bus while headed to a formal event at an Okla- homa City country club with their dates, Boren said. Boren said the investi- gation found alcohol was "readily available" at the fraternity house before the start of the event, and that about a dozen high school students whom he described as "potential re- cruits" were also on the bus. Beginning in the fall, Boren said all current and future OU students will be required to take diversity training. After the video surfaced, Boren immediately severed ties with the local chapter, shuttered the fraternity house and expelled two members who led the chant. One of those students, Levi Pettit, publicly apolo- gized at a news conference Wednesday in which he was flanked by black commu- nity leaders. Pettit, who is from the Dallas enclave of Highland Park, answered a few questions from report- ers but declined to say who taught him the chant. "The truth is what was said in that chant is dis- gusting ... and after meet- ing with these people I've learned these words should never be repeated," Pettit said. A second student from the Dallas area, Parker Rice, also issued a state- ment apologizing for his role in the chant. Isaac Hill, the president of the university's Black Student Association, met earlier Friday with Boren and seven student leaders from the defunct OU chap- ter, along with some stu- dent athletes and members of historically black frater- nities. Hill, a junior from Midwest City, said each of the fraternity members apologized personally for their role in the chant. Also on Friday, Boren sent a letter to the executive director of the national SAE fraternity, Blaine Ayers, ask- ing what steps it was tak- ing to investigate the ori- gin of the chant. In the let- ter, Boren wrote that while there is no indication the chant was part of the formal teaching of the national or- ganization, "it does appear that the chant was widely known and informally shared amongst members on the leadership cruise." SAE's national leadership disbanded the OU chapter in the wake of the incident and announced it was tak- ing steps to become more inclusive, including requir- ing all of its members, na- tionwide, to go through diversity training and by setting up a confidential ho- tline for people to report in- appropriate behavior. FRATERNITY UniversityofOklahomaunveils racist chant investigation findings SUEOGROCKI—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Oklahoma state Sen. Anastasia Pittman, le , D-Oklahoma City, stands with Levi Pettit, right, a former University of Oklahoma fraternity member caught on video leading a racist chant, during a news conference at Fairview Baptist Church in Oklahoma City on Wednesday. By Geir Moulson and David Mchugh The Associated Press MONTABAUR, GERMANY Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz appeared happy and healthy to ac- quaintances, but a picture emerged Friday of a man who hid evidence of an ill- ness from his employers — including a torn-up doc- tor's note that would have kept him off work the day authorities say he crashed Flight 9525 into an Alpine mountainside. As German prosecutors sought to piece together the puzzle of why Lubitz locked his captain out of the cock- pit and crashed the Airbus A320, police in the French Alps toiled to retrieve the shattered remains of the 150 people killed in Tues- day's crash. Searches conducted at Lubitz's homes in Dues- seldorf and in the town of Montabaur turned up documents pointing to "an existing illness and appropriate medical treat- ment," but no suicide note was found, said Ralf Her- renbrueck, a spokesman for the Duesseldorf pros- ecutors' office. They included ripped-up sick notes covering the day of the crash, which "support the current preliminary as- sessment that the deceased hid his illness from his em- ployer and colleagues," Her- renbrueck said in a state- ment. Doctors commonly is- sue employees in Germany with such notes excusing them from work, even for minor illnesses, and work- ers hand them to their em- ployers. Doctors are obliged to abide by medical secrecy unless their patient explic- itly tells them he or she plans to commit an act of violence. Prosecutors didn't spec- ify what illness Lubitz may have been suffering from, or say whether it was men- tal or physical. German media reported Friday that the 27-year-old had suffered from depression. The Duesseldorf Univer- sity Hospital said Friday that Lubitz had been a pa- tient there over the past two months and last went in for a "diagnostic evaluation" on March 10. It declined to pro- vide details, citing medical confidentiality, but denied reports it had treated Lub- itz for depression. Neighbors described a man whose physical health was superb and road race records show Lubitz took part in several long-dis- tance runs. "He definitely did not smoke. He really took care of himself. He always went jogging. ... He was very healthy," said Johannes Rossmann, who lives a few doors from Lubitz's home in Montabaur. People in Montabaur who knew Lubitz told The Asso- ciated Press that he had been thrilled with his job at Germanwings and seemed very happy. On Friday, no one was seen coming or going from his family's large slate- roofed two-story house in Montabaur as more than 100 journalists remained outside. Mayor Edmund Schaaf appealed to the me- dia to show "consideration." "Independent of whether the accusations against the co-pilot are true or not, we have sympathy for his fam- ily," he said. Germanwings said that both pilots on the plane had medical clearance, and it had received no sick note for the day of the crash. Medical checkups are done by certified doctors and take place once a year. A German aviation official told the AP that Lubitz's file at the country's Federal Avi- ation Office contained a no- tation that meant he needed "specific regular medical ex- amination." Such a notation could refer to either a phys- ical or mental condition but the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity be- cause he was not authorized to release the information, said Lubitz's file did not spec- ify which. German media have painted a picture of a man with a history of depression who had received psycholog- ical treatment, and who may have been set off by a falling- out with his girlfriend. Dues- seldorf prosecutors, who are leading the German side of the probe, refused to com- ment on the anonymously sourced reports. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration had issued Lubitz a third-class medi- cal certificate. In order to obtain such a certificate, a pilot must be cleared of psychological problems in- cluding psychosis, bipolar disorder and personality disorders. The certificate also means that he wasn't found to be suffering from an- other mental health condi- tion that "makes the person unable to safely perform the duties or exercise the priv- ileges" of a pilot's license. Carsten Spohr, the CEO of Germanwings' par- ent company, Lufthansa, has said there was a "sev- eral-month" gap in Lubitz's training six years ago, but didn't elaborate. Following the disruption, he said, Lub- itz "not only passed all med- ical tests but also his flight training, all flying tests and checks." Prosecutors said there was no indication of any political or religious moti- vation for Lubitz's actions on the Barcelona-Duessel- dorf flight. In the French Alps, po- lice working to recover re- mains from the crash site said they so far have recov- ered between 400 and 600 pieces of remains from the victims. Col. Patrick Touron of the gendarme service said DNA samples have been taken from objects provided by victims' families, such as combs or toothbrushes, that could help identify them. Jewelry and other objects could also help in the iden- tification process, he said. "We haven't found a sin- gle body intact," he said. The rough terrain means that recovery workers have to be backed up by moun- tain rescuers. "We have particularly difficult con- ditions, and each person needs to be roped up," Tou- ron said. Also Friday, the Eu- ropean Aviation Safety Agency recommended that airlines in the future always have two people in the cock- pit. FRANCE PLANE CRASH Co-pilot appeared healthy; may have had hidden illness CHRISTOPHE ENA — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A stele and flowers laid in memory of the victims are placed in the area where the Germanwings jetliner crashed in the French Alps on Friday. 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