Oklahoma freshmen to undergo mandatory diversity training

Incoming University of Oklahoma (OU) freshmen will participate this fall in new mandatory diversity training, which was created in response to a viral video from earlier this year showing fraternity brothers from the school chanting racist slurs.

The training, which will be part of the annual Camp Crimson, a program that introduces new freshman to college life on campus, was created in response to the rise of a black student alliance called Unheard and the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) scandal where students participated in a racist chant earlier this year.

Incoming freshmen must attend the five hour class at Camp Crimson which discusses diversity and inclusivity on campus.

Students who are unable to go to Camp Crimson will be permitted to take a gateway class or stand-alone class in its place.

“We really want students from the start at OU to understand that diversity and inclusivity is at the core of who we are as Sooners,”Jabar Shumate, the new University of Oklahoma (OU) Vice President for University Community, told The Oklahoma Daily.

Shumate’s position as OU Vice President for University Community was created as a result of the SAE incident this spring.

Before joining OU, Shumate served as an Oklahoma state senator.

OU junior Jared Perryman, an architecture student, told Campus Reform that he doesn’t think the training should be mandatory.

“Camp Crimson has been around for a while, but it has never been mandatory,” he said. “I think it’s [discrimination] already been addressed”

OU is not the only university this year facing calls for diversity training. In April, students at Binghamton University demanded administrators take a “ cultural competency training” in order to fight racism on campus.

Shumate did not respond to Campus Reform’s multiple requests for comment.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @BethanySalgado