Cheaper for OU to pay off any potential lawsuit, than it is to take the heat for not doing “something”.
After all, it’s not like it’s THIER money they will be paying out.
Sadly it’s a huge missed opportunity for freedom and personal responsibility. Imagine what would have happeneded if the university president instead had said something like this:
“The university condemns this racist speech, which is hurtful and not acceptable by the standards of modern society. However, we each have the right under the first amendment to engage in such acts, even though they are hateful and offensive to nearly everyone. The University of Oklahoma strongly defends the constitutional right to freedom of expression and will publish the names of all those involved in this video, all members of the SAE fraternity, and any one else we identify as having participated in this act. It is our sincere hope that their national fraternity acts to revoke the OU SAE charter and that the students involved bear the responsibility for these hurtful acts for the balance of their time here, and as they seek to enter the next phase of their careers. The university stands equally firm behind freedom of speech, and the inherent responsibility that comes from exercising that right”
A missed opportunity, a teachable moment.
There you have your show prep, Rush. You’re welcome.
Or maybe I got it backwards here. I haven't been following this invented outrage.
Thats it exactly: kick the kids out to settle the rest of the campus down, worry about the repercussions later.
Thing is that the one kid, in his apology, stated that he “withdrew” from the University. This contradicts Boren’s statement that he was expelled, and if true it presents a major obstacle for the kid in trying to sue.
Otherwise, the kids have an incredibly good case. There are all sorts of precedents on their side and it’s hard to argue that a former US Senator and OU’s legal staff wouldn’t be aware of them prior to ordering their expulsions.
Oh, and to add (building on my post above), look at Borens initial comments talking about process and Constitutional protections, and compare with his quick turnaround with expulsion.
If those kids do sue, discovery is going to be a real problem for the university. Hopefully Boren and his legal staff were renting space on Hillary’s basement email server because if evidence comes out that Boren et al were aware of the Constitutional issues but made a cynical decision to ignore them and expel the racist twerps for the sake of expediency? I mean? They better be prepared to dig really deep into the old endowment to make the lawsuit go away.
The other reason the expulsion becomes unconstitutional / illegal. No right to challenge the verdict, no chance to give their side like “I was blending in / senior told me to”. Not even a “sentenced to re-education for a week”. Just kicked out, money lost, education disrupted.