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Racist video gets UGA fraternity members kicked from Greek row

The Student Government Association, the national arm of the fraternity and even UGA itself have responded to the video.

ATHENS, Ga. — A fraternity has suspended four of its members at the University of Georgia after a video allegedly showed them participating in racist acts - and using a slur at least once.

Video shared by the Red and Black newspaper shows one member slinging a belt at another and repeating the phrase, "Pick my cotton, b****" several times. At one point, a person off-camera tells the belt-wielding student that he's "not using the right words."

After a brief pause and some laughter, the person then yells, "Pick my cotton, n*****."

Since it was posted Friday afternoon, the video has been shared nearly 400 times.

The Student Government Association issued a statement on Friday acknowledging that members of a UGA Greek organization were caught on camera "using racist language and engaging in behaviors that mock the suffering of enslaved peoples."

"We have been notified that the chapter is currently suspended, and we can confirm that there is an investigation underway regarding the students involved in the video," the statement added.

From its official Twitter account, the University of Georgia also chimed in with a statement claiming that the state's namesake university "condemns racism in the strongest terms" and that "racism has no place on our campus."

"We will continue our efforts to promote a welcoming and supportive learning environment for our students, faculty, and staff," the statement concluded.

Neither the SGA nor the university named the fraternity involved in the incident, but Tau Kappa Epsilon later released its own statement announcing that it had expelled four members from its UGA chapter.

"Our investigation showed this was a non-TKE function and did not take place on any chapter premises," the statement read. "These four individuals acted outside the expectations of our membership and their chapter and therefore were removed from both."

The four were expelled at 5 p.m. Saturday as per the chapter's "prescribed procedures" the letter stated.

"Since 1899, our Fraternity has taken much pride in the diversity and uniqueness of our membership," the statement concluded. "Tau Kappa Epsilon has never had an exclusionary clause in our membership."

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