OU Students Outraged At Homophobic Slurs At University Event

Outrage at OU after homophobic slurs are used at a university-sponsored event.

It happened at a rap battle on campus Friday night and some students are calling the lyrics hate speech after another highly-publicized incident back in March.

The Union Programming Board and the Black Student Association put on the rap event.

It was the second year for it and now, the University of Oklahoma is looking at whether it will be held again next year.

“It became less of a lighthearted event and kind of escalated to getting really derogative, and really unsettling,” said Shawntal Brown who attended the rap event.

Some rappers repeatedly used homophobic slurs, like “fa**ot.”

“One of my friends, he's openly gay, and we were just looking at each other confused because we were really upset, like why would he even say that,” Brown said.

An OU student group called QuIC, or Queer Inclusion on Campus, gathered on Monday to talk about their concerns.

They formed the group last year to give LGBTQ students a voice with the OU administration.

“I was angry, but also I was sad and disappointed that this keeps happening without a system in place to address it,” said Alex Ruggiers with QuIC at OU.

“It feels like I am not welcome at the University of Oklahoma as a student,” QuIC member Lena Tenney said.

Witnesses said nothing was said at the event about the slurs.

After the show, apologies started popping up online from the student organizations who held the event and even one of the performers named Shane Appell.

Appell wrote, “I would like to apologize if I hurt anyone with what I said on stage tonight. The words I chose to hastily rhyme do not necessarily reflect my opinions of any of the other contestants or groups of people.”

Members of QuIC said they just want to see more of a response from the university.

“A lot of administration just does not seem very aware that a lot of LGBTQ students do experience a lot of biased on campus,” Tenney said.

After the SAE racist chant surfaced in March, OU created a new administrative position called Vice President for the University Community to create a more inclusive environment on campus.

Jabar Shumate was hired for the position and he said his office is looking at what happened to make sure it does not happen again in the future.

OU President David Boren released this statement:

"Those involved have apologized. They were right to apologize because the university should be a place where every person is treated with respect. The university is striving to create an inclusive community, this cannot be done by administrators alone. I urge our students to speak out against intolerance and disrespect for others. Strong student voices for mutual respect are the most effective way to create a true sense of community. I personally condemn the use of slurs which wound others and urge students to join me. I have asked our Vice President of Student Affairs to look into the situation to try to assure that such matters do not occur in the future."