From terrorism to racist fraternities, last week’s top news stories covered a variety of unsavory topics. The number one most popular post of the week came from Law Street Crime Editor Kevin Rizzo who shed light on the ISIS’ goals and motivations; the number two story of the week, from Alexis Evans, examined the University of Oklahoma shutting down fraternity SAE after it engaged in offensive racist chants caught on video; and the third most popular story of the week, also from Evans, brought us a look into Uber’s latest effort to win back women. ICYMI, check out the best of the week from Law Street.

#1 Understanding ISIS’ Radical Apocalyptic Vision

Nearly everyone knows what the Islamic State is doing–treacherous acts and the consolidation of control in territories throughout Iraq and Syria–but few realize exactly what the group’s goals are. ISIS is a unique manifestation of radical Islam that is bent on establishing a religious government that enforces what it believes is to be the purest form of Islam. Supporting that vision is its supporters’ closely held belief that ISIS is bringing about the apocalypse. Yes, deeply rooted in its ideology is the idea that establishing an “Islamic State” will eventually lead to a final battle between good and evil near the small town of Dabiq in northern Syria. Read full article here.

#2 University of Oklahoma Fraternity Shut Down After Racist Chant

University of Oklahoma’s President is giving chapter members of the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) exactly one day to get off the campus after a shocking video of the fraternity brothers chorusing a racist chant surfaced on social media. Read full article here.

#3 Uber’s New Hiring Initiative: Trying to Win Back the Women

Crowd-sourced mobile taxi service Uber has developed a bit of a reputation for having a sexist “bro culture.” A new announcement this morning from the company reveals it’s trying to change that. Uber announced it will be partnering with UN Women “with the goal of accelerating economic opportunity for women.” As part of that commitment, it has pledged to create 1,000,000 jobs for women drivers by 2020. That sounds good, but is this sudden explosion of growth really proof that the company is becoming more female friendly? Read full article here.

Chelsey D. Goff

Chelsey D. Goff was formerly Chief People Officer at Law Street. She is a Granite State Native who holds a Master of Public Policy in Urban Policy from the George Washington University. She’s passionate about social justice issues, politics — especially those in First in the Nation New Hampshire — and all things Bravo. Contact Chelsey at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Earlier this week, video surfaced of members of the University of Oklahoma’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity chanting an incredibly racist song on a bus ride to a party. The song involved heavy use of the n-word and  after the video went viral on Twitter, University of Oklahoma President David Boren responded by kicking the chapter off campus and expelling two of the students involved. Those two students are named Parker Rice and Levi Pettit, and they were expelled because of their role in leading the chant. Now the SAE chapter is making noise about filing some sort of lawsuit against either the University of Oklahoma, or possibly against Boren himself.

The reason that many are now speculating that a suit may be forthcoming is because the group of students representing the now-defunct fraternity have retained Stephen Jones. Jones is a pretty recognizable legal force in Oklahoma, perhaps best known for defending Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. While Jones has yet to file any sort of lawsuit, according to KOCO Oklahoma City:

Jones said the board of directors at the OU SAE chapter asked him to investigate certain legal matters that may impact the chapter as a result of the racist chant video. Jones said he has not yet been asked to initiate litigation against any person or party at this time.

There are multiple different legal issues that could be at play here–first and foremost are possible First Amendment Rights inherent in kicking someone out of school and disbanding a fraternity based on something that they said. The debate over the First Amendment is especially complicated given that the University of Oklahoma is a public institution, not a private one. The school accepts federal and state funds and, as a public university, it represents the public–namely the government. While the University of Oklahoma can certainly argue that it’s allowed to expel the students and kick them out for violating the code of conduct, First Amendment concerns may outweigh that. While Jones isn’t representing the expelled students specifically, rather the board representing the members of SAE, it’s possible that if the expelled students decide to file the lawsuit, he’ll be on the front lines.

In addition to the First Amendment concerns, there are also possible due process and 14th Amendment issues with the way in which the students were kicked off campus. There are also concerns that those former members of SAE were painted with too broad a brush, even if some of them weren’t the offenders who participated in the chant.

Overall, it seems like a legal battle is brewing in Oklahoma. What those men did was beyond inappropriate and despicable, and from a moral point of view I think Boren’s actions were not only incredibly warranted but absolutely necessary. However, he may soon have to defend those actions in court.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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