[Anderson Cooper, Cnn:] Good evening. We begin tonight with breaking news. The University of Oklahoma now minus two students in the fraternity they belonged to. Sigma Alpha Epsilon is gone. Two members who appear to be leading the chant about hanging black men from trees, they have been expelled. And just moments ago, one of the expelled students, Parker Rice, issued a statement to the "Dallas Morning News." It reads in part, "I am deeply sorry for what I did Saturday night. It was wrong and reckless. I made a horrible mistake by joining in the singing and encouraging others to do the same. On Monday, I withdrew from the university. And sadly, this moment, our family is not able to be in our home because threatening calls as well as frightening talk on social media." The family of one frat brother on the video came forward. In just about half an hour, a rally is planned on campus at the former SAE house. But first, Miguel Marquez has the latest.
[Miguel Marquez, Cnn Correspondent:] Parker Rice, 19-year- old freshman, expelled from the University of Oklahoma has pretty much vanished. At his home in Dallas, no sign of him nor his family. He and members of the SAE fraternity clearly avoiding publicity after the video was leaked to the school newspaper and ricocheting around the world. At the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house, its traditional letters unceremoniously removed. Today, a steady flow of moving trucks. Big job?
[Unidentified Male:] I have no idea.
[Marquez:] Fast job?
[Unidentified Male:] Your guess good as mine is right now. It's last minute call, so.
[Marquez:] At the SAE house, a last minute scramble to clear out. Hello? Hello? How are you? CNN. Can I chat with somebody? It is 4:00 here in Oklahoma and the parking lot here at the SAE house is nearly empty hours ahead of the deadline imposed by the university. This entire fraternity shut down. Students here in full protest mode. The story football team linking arms in a powerful show of support for the demonstrators but there is fallout. One star recruit who signed on to play for OU now says no way.
[Unidentified Male:] I wouldn't want my son or child going anywhere like that. I don't want my brothers going anywhere like that. It was disturbing to me. I don't like it.
[Marquez:] Bright spot out of work African-American SAE chef Howard Dixon hit an unexpected jackpot. More than $60,000 raised for him online. And those who attended OU pledged SAE in love both institutions or left, scratched heads and left. When you saw this, how did you react?
[Unidentified Male:] Shocked. Absolutely shocked. That's all I can say. I think it's wrong to judge the entire house on what a few did on a bus.
[Marquez:] Bob Burnham came to his old fraternity house hoping to find answers. He was quickly was overwhelmed with emotion. Why did you come here to see this place after so many years?
[Unidentified Male:] Well, it was.
[Cooper:] Miguel Marquez joining us in front of the SAE fraternity house. Is there likely to be more expulsion expulsions?
[Marquez:] It looks like there may be more expulsions, certainly disciplinary actions. The school wants to know everybody on that bus, and what their role was, and what they were doing before any final decisions but sounds like it is very much leaving the door open to expulsion expulsions, Anderson.
[Cooper:] There have been suggestions that this so-called chant is used more widely. In apology statement, this young man has put out. He said he that was taught this chant. He doesn't say who he taught it by or who they were taught it by. Do we know more about it?
[Marquez:] We don't know a lot more. We're getting glimpses. It is a secretive society as all fraternities are, but we know in other areas, students have told me they have heard similar or the same chant before. It has been reported in other areas around the country that the similar or same chant has been used by SAE fraternities. The national chapter said this is nothing that is sanctioned. This is not an SAE chant, but yet we keep hearing in dribs and drabs, individuals coming forward saying it is something they have heard before. It's a fraternity formed around the time of the civil war Anderson.
[Cooper:] Yes. Miguel Marquez, thank you very much. In case you're wondering about the kind of racial climate at the SAE house, here's another video that surfaced. The SAE house mother from OU rapping along the Trinidad James' old gold everything. And seemingly excited to be using the n word. Now for the record, the song drops the n-bomb three times in a row at most. The house mother does it seven times. Today, she says, she is heartbroken that she is friends of all races and does not tolerate any form of discrimination in her life. She also said she knew nothing about the chant. Joining us now is Brandon Weghorst, SAE associate, executive director of communication. Brandon, thank you for being with us. So, two members of the fraternity kicked out of school today. Do you believe that was a just punishment?
[Brandon Weghorst, Sae Associate, Executive Director Of Communication:] Absolutely. We believe there's consequences for your actions. It's unfortunate when someone has to be expelled from the university like that but there are things that you have to take into consideration and especially in a hateful message like that. They don't represent us. They don't represent anyone.
[Cooper:] The students in the video, certainly didn't seem like this was the first time they chanted this. Were you aware of this chant before? Again, the young man in the statement just released says this is a chant he had been taught. He doesn't say who taught it.
[Weghorst:] Right. We've been asked that question also on the headquarters level and also looked into these different cases that people say this group knows this chant or this was taught by the national organization. There's absolutely nothing in our history, especially related to our songs of course that has to do with a chant that's inappropriate and racist and just disgusting like this. And I don't understand, you know. So we're sort of trying to figure out how we can validate that. And we hold other people accountable and other chapters accountable if we know that they have details about this or participating in something like this.
[Cooper:] How many black members have there been in the University of Oklahoma's SAE chapter?
[Weghorst:] I don't know the exact number because until a year and a half or two years ago, we were not really asking ethnicity as part of reporting to the national headquarters because we never thought it's been important the color of your skin or your background of origin, simply whether or not you have the characteristics and really the character and moral value we're looking for in Sigma Alpha Epsilon. So in the data we have currently, it doesn't actually reflect the entire span of the current undergraduates across the country.
[Cooper:] Well there is an essay written by an African-American man who joined this chapter 14 years ago. At that point, he said he was the second black member ever at the chapter. And he said that since then, there has not been a third. So in the entire history of the chapter, according to him, there's only been two African-American members of the SAE fraternity. And I guess I'm wondering, what sort of oversight at all do you have of your fraternities? Because as a national organization, I would think if you looked and said, gee, in the past 14 years, there isn't been one black person at this fraternity, that's kind of odd.
[Weghorst:] It may seem odd for, you know, obviously for this particular case and to say, this is somehow indicative of all the chapters across the country. But that's not true. There are chapters in the country right now even though there's not a statistic behind it that we know from interacting with and from training and other events that there's chapters where there are white students who are the minority. And then other chapters there are other minorities or other groups that are representative. There are chapters where a lot of people come from homes and English isn't spoken as a primary first language, so it depends what campus you're at.
[Cooper:] I'm just wondering as an organization, was there never a time when somebody from the national organization visited this chapter or looked at the roles of this chapter and in the last 14 years, never said, there's no black people here and there's only been two black people in the history of this thing. I mean, what kind of oversight do you actually have?
[Weghorst:] Absolutely and the thing is that the oversight of the national office is that we work with the chapters, we do visit the chapters but chapters are autonomous. In other words, we do not mandate who they can or take from membership. There are regulations on the type of person, the type of individual they should extend an invitation to join too. But again, in terms of saying this is a problem, it is not something that, again, to the national organization has stepped in to say we need to monitor this more closely only in the sense there are certainly things we want and the things the organization has.
[Cooper:] So now, are you thinking maybe that should be something to say to local chapters, that you know what, it would be a good idea to have a diverse student body as part of this fraternity. I mean, it reflects the values we care about. Is that something you're thinking about doing?
[Weghorst:] Anderson, yes. The leadership is dedicated to making sure of this. The response to the national organization or leadership isn't about just about saying we close a chapter, the members are suspended and facing expulsion soon. It is about that we can't control what's happened in the past. It's in the past. What we can do is focus on the current situation, where we are right now as an organization and what we need to do to change this to make it better, to learn from things and make sure our members understand this is the type of thing that we stand for as a fraternity because it's the right thing to do and because we need to move forward from this situation. It's wrong to vilify sigma alpha epsilon across the country based on a chapter or a couple of chapters or instances that happened even over a 10 or 20 year span. Still, it's a large national organization.
[Cooper:] Are you concerned at all though, according to "the Washington Post" online, SAE talks about its roots in the pre-civil war south and
[Weghorst:] Sure. We obviously looked at that to see how that's perceived by anybody who is considering joining the fraternity at any campus across the country. But the reality is that we were founded in 1856 at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. So the early members of the fraternity and the history of the organization is exactly that. We have a lot to be proud of in Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Of course, we know the history of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, what is affiliated and not affiliated with SAE because we are members. The bigger issue is we need to do a better job communicating that and how it's perceived by people who are not in the fraternity.
[Cooper:] Right. I mean, I get being proud of one's history. I have roots in the south as well. I understand being proud of, you know, the people who founded the fraternity. I know a lot of pledges memorize the names of the original founders and apparently this bus was going to a founder's day party but don't you think, if one of your goals moving forward is perhaps and maybe it's not but to attract African-American members, you say you think about how it might be perceived, don't you think that would be perceived differently by African-Americans than it might be perceived by whites of the southern background?
[Weghorst:] Absolutely. And there's part of the discussion. I mean, we're looking at a lot of different options. Our leadership is also engaged with people to reach out to us to offer their support and also the things that they think that we need to take into consideration. So that we can do a better job of being able to communicate more accurately what SAE is and looking at, you know, the type of person we want because it is true that we don't look at diversity in the sense of just being the color of someone's skin or the ethnicity. There's a lot of diversity in the organization that is not just about that. Background in terms of that.
[Cooper:] Right. But some diversity in terms of color of skin might not be a bad idea?
[Weghorst:] No, absolutely. And again, if you will look at chapters across the country even talk to members in Sigma Alpha Epsilon right now, they would look at not be able to how can you say we're not diverse?
[Cooper:] We're going to do that now. Brandon, I appreciate you being on. Thank you.
[Weghorst:] Of course. Thank you for having me.
[Cooper:] Joining me now is Mikel Sykes, president of the SEA at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi. And Naomi Kadira, co- director of OU Unheard on campus. Appreciate both of you being with us. Mikel, let's start with you. When you first saw this video, I mean, obviously, I imagine you were horrified who as someone who belongs to the fraternity at another university.
[Mikel Sykes, President, Sae At Delta State University In Cleveland , Mississippi:] Absolutely. It was really upsetting, extremely disturbing to see that members of the organization to have that belief and have that chant a part of their traditions or whatever. It was extremely disturbing and really sad to see.
[Cooper:] And how many African-American members are at your fraternity right now?
[Skyes:] We have about a 42 man chapter. There's about four of us that are African-American. We just graduated a couple of years ago. So we've had a few African-American members at our chapter. Our school, Delta State University in Cleveland, does a really good job of promoting diversity among this Greek organizations and we have a really great Greek system there.
[Cooper:] And was there ever any concern on your part when you were thinking about joining SAE or rushing it, I guess as you call it, you know, on the web site about them being based on, you know, founded in the south and how many members fought with the confederacy. Was there any concern on your part?
[Skyes:] Never. And that's mainly and solely because of the people that were already in the organization. I met them and they were just outstanding gentlemen and it was absolutely something I wanted to be a part of. The true gentlemen spells out everything I want to be as a man in life and so there was never any concern about that on my end.
[Cooper:] About being a true gentleman, something SAE talks about in their fraternities. Naomi, I know your group OU unheard hasn't had time to discuss the expulsions. But you, personally, do you think the university president has done enough?
[Naomi Kadira, Co-director , Ou Unheard On Campus:] I wouldn't say it's enough but we definitely are standing behind our president's decision and we are very grateful that he's moving swiftly and not taking this situation lightly.
[Cooper:] And I know, Naomi, it's important for you that the conversation doesn't end with these expulsions. What do you think need to happen next on your campus?
[Kadira:] For us, as Unheard, I know we're not really focusing on expulsion or any punishment. We want this to be a learning moment for not just SAE, but for organizations across campus, even nationally. We're so glad this thing has gained national attention because this can be the change. It can start change and really just bring people's attention and allow people to notice these things are happening. People aren't making this up when they say we are facing micro- aggression on campus or in the city or anywhere else.
[Cooper:] It's interesting, Naomi. Because when you look at statistics and polls, often you have African-Americans in this country saying, you know, this is a conversation we need to have more of and oftentimes, you, Caucasian Americans in polls say, you know what, this isn't something we need to be talking about quite so much. You're saying, this is actually a good thing it's become part of a national discussion.
[Kadira:] Definitely. These things are happening. And for people, whether they be white, black, blue, or purple, who are experiencing them, it's easy to say this isn't happening. This isn't real. We're in post-racial America. But for people like myself and people representing the group unheard, this is happening. This is something we see every day. A lot of people if you ask, they'll say they weren't shocked this happened when they saw the video. They were not shocked. I heard that so much. And this is why. So I'm definitely glad this is a conversation that's now happening nationally.
[Cooper:] So Mikel, what would you say to the national organization about what needs to change if something needs to change? I mean, does there need to be more oversight, more effort to attract or to at least let people see the organization that you see and, I mean, does something need to change in this organization? Sorry, that was for Mikel. I'm sorry, Naomi Mikel?
[Skyes:] It really varies from chapter to chapter, you know. There's a lot of chapters I know of that promote diversity such as our chapter at Delta State. And, you know, there's a lot of chapters that may not. And an organization that's 15,000 undergraduates, you're going to have bad apples and it's really unfortunate when that happens. But, you know, I'm not necessarily sure of the best solution or the best, you know, way the national organization can go about fixing the problem. But I think the first step is recognizing that there is a problem and then, you know, brain storming different ideas on how to go about solving that.
[Cooper:] And Naomi, I will ask the same question to you. Do you believe the national organization has done enough?
[Kadira:] As far as doing enough, like I said, no. There definitely needs to be a teaching aspect of this. Punishment, OK. It will go so far. But if we don't teach and hone in on the issue of why it was wrong, it's not OK. It's not enough.
[Cooper:] Naomi Kadira, appreciate you being on and Mikel Skyes as well. Appreciate you talking to us about your experience. Thank you so much. We are going to have more on this in a moment. A quick reminder, make sure you see your DVR. You can watch "360" whenever you want. Coming up nest, taking up students for what they say, was that justified this time? Is it never justified, can university actually do that? What about the first amendment, the freedom of speech? Senior analyst Jeffrey Toobin and others join us next. Also later, Hillary Clinton ending the suspense about why she says she used a private email account the entire time she was secretary of state. The question now, will it end the controversy? Clinton biographer Carl Bernstein joins us.