( CNN ) A video appears online . In it , fraternity members from your university are chanting a hateful , racist song about lynching African-Americans . The video goes viral . You 're president of the university . Imagine being in that situation . What would you do ? There are two ways to answer the question . The first is in the moment of crisis . The second is about the long term . As most everyone knows by now , David Boren , president of the University of Oklahoma , faced just this situation Monday . And I 've been thinking about it intensely , not only because I care about race and civic leadership in America , but also because Boren was my first boss , when he was a U.S. senator . I 'm not from Oklahoma but ended up working for Boren through a college internship . He was a mentor to me during my years in Washington , and a model for me when he left the Beltway to be of greater use and service as an educator . Though we have n't talked since the crisis broke , I see familiar patterns of leadership . Boren responded to the crisis swiftly , with a statement that went viral . Boren told the students from Sigma Alpha Epsilon ( SAE ) he had a message for them : `` You are disgraceful . You have violated all that we stand for . You should not have the privilege of calling yourselves Sooners '' ( the OU nickname ) . Boren went on to sever all ties between OU and SAE . The national fraternity closed the local chapter . Later , Boren said he 'd be glad if the students in the video left campus because `` we do n't provide student services for bigots . '' The next day he expelled two of them . His actions have resonated across the country . On social media , people shocked by the video find themselves also stunned by Boren 's response . Why ? Because he did something rare in public life today . He expressed a decisive , judgmental view with moral clarity . Then he followed through . His statements have been free of mushy lawyer-talk or euphemism . He 's led authentically , from the heart . Of course , people have carped . Some question whether Boren has the legal authority , as head of a public institution , to expel students on the basis of their free speech , even racist hate speech . Some lament that what he should have branded as disgraceful was the students ' actions , not the students themselves . Legitimate concerns , perhaps . The First Amendment question , certainly , is being debated by legal scholars . But these concerns are eclipsed by the bigger picture . Boren was n't just condemning wrongdoers ; he was shifting social norms for all . A cynic might consider laughable a refrain from Boren 's statement about `` real Sooners . '' Boren said that real Sooners are not racists or bigots ; they believe in equal opportunity , treat people with mutual respect and love each other like family . A cynic might say Oklahoma is a state both very white and very red , not known for flying the banner of anti-racism . Indeed , the original Sooners were the white settlers who raced in to claim land that had been wrested from Native Americans . But the point of Boren 's `` real Sooners '' riff is not to describe or sanitize today 's reality ; it is to issue a challenge . It is to bind people to a creed , a standard of being and belief that is easy to assert but hard to achieve . Not unlike being a true patriot . So now begins the longer term . Here , another opportunity arises to lead by example . David Boren can now examine the institution he works for and ask how and why such attitudes and behaviors -- racism so casually vicious -- could ever take root among people as young as freshmen . He can explore the ways in which everyone -- not only the obviously guilty parties at a frat party -- is touched by unconscious bias and institutional racism . He can now ask his community to face the inequities of history and race . We can all do that . Howard Schultz , CEO of Starbucks , is doing this at his company . He was moved after the incidents of Ferguson and Staten Island to hold truly open forums with employees about the pain and anguish of racial division . But you do n't have to be a college president or a CEO . You do n't have to be a white man in charge to start a tough reckoning with racism ( though it 'd help if more did ) . Whoever you are , you can start a new kind of conversation in your neighborhood . On your campus . At your house of worship . Ask what the history is . Ask why there are such imbalances of power and voice . Ask what it would take to be truly inclusive . Then , in word and deed , start answering your own questions . We can all do that . The sooner , the better .
BorenDavid Boren , president of the University of Oklahoma , responded to offensive video . Eric Liu : David Boren did something rare in public life today -- he acted with moral clarity .