Syracuse Frat: Racist Video Was Satirical ‘Roast’ of Republican Brother

A Syracuse University fraternity claims that a shockingly offensive video that surfaced this week of a member taking an “oath” with racist and anti-Semitic slurs was “satire,” and part of a “roast” of an active brother who is a conservative Republican. In a statement on the Theta Tau chapter’s website, the fraternity explains “Each semester our new members are given the opportunity to write and act out a skit, in order to roast the active brothers... This year, one of these brothers is a conservative Republican, and the new members roasted him by playing the part of a racist conservative character.” The statement goes on: “It was a satirical sketch of an uneducated, racist, homophobic, misogynist, sexist, ableist and intolerant person. The [young men] do not hold any of the horrible views espoused as a part of that sketch.” According to the statement, the frat members who were seen laughing in the video thought “racism, sexism, and homophobia are so wrong that they are laughable.” It also claims that after the “roast” the members spoke about “their actual beliefs shortly after their parody and we all agreed that those words should never be spoken—in our house, or anywhere.” The fraternity chapter was suspended from campus after the video of the “oath” surfaced online and was first reported by The Daily Orange.