NORMAN, Okla. – University of Oklahoma freshmen will be required to participate in a five-hour orientation on diversity issues in the wake of a fraternity scandal on campus this spring.

In March, a video surfaced of members of OU’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity singing a racist chant, and the incident sparked a national backlash against the students involved.

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The Oklahoma Daily, the school’s student newspaper, reports talks about diversity training for students and staff started in January, prompted by student complaints about culturally inappropriate theme parties, such as a “cowboys and Indians” party allegedly planned by the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, according to 10 News.

The new mandatory diversity program is headed by university vice president and former lawmaker Jabar Shumate, who told the Tulsa World the “experience” will be part of the university’s Camp Crimson freshman orientation.

“You can’t teach diversity in a five-hour course, but you can be inspired to learn more and be involved in other ways,” Shumate said. “We want to make it so when you learn about what it means to be a Sooner, it means we have students from all backgrounds – that we value diversity and inclusiveness.

“We are a campus full of all different perspectives and have respect for that.”

Shumate said the idea is to familiarize students with the cultures of their classmates and OU alumni, and to provide an overview of the school’s multicultural offerings. The hope is students will make friends with those they otherwise wouldn’t, and Shumate hopes that will foster more acceptance on campus.

“A big part of it will be opening a dialogue,” he told the Tulsa World. “It will allow an opportunity to meet someone different, and, perhaps, make life-long friendships. We want to create a situation to make meaningful relationships for students at the beginning.”

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Shumate contends that gaining a different perspective is “what college is about.”

He also said the diversity issues aren’t all black and white, but rather about a much broader acceptance of all types of lifestyles.

“We are looking not just at our relationships with African Americans,” Shumate said. “Diversity is so much larger than that. We are asking, ‘What does it mean to be diverse and inclusive?’ We are talking about gender identity, sexual orientation and disability all playing a part of that.”

Center for Diversity Education Executive Director Deborah Miles told 10 News it’s about time OU mandated diversity training for students like other universities such as the University of Washington, Drexel University and DePaul University.

“As much as it is a response to one particular racial slur (SAE scandal), it is a response to the changing demography of our nation and what having a global economy means,” Miles said. “It is not enough any more just to know how to get along with people who look just like you do.”

And while some students agree with the need for mandatory diversity training, others think it’s unnecessary.

“When I walk from class to class every day I see so many different cultures represented,” OU senior business major Tony Warner told 10 News. “Even my teachers vary among nationalities. I don’t really have a problem with mandatory diversity training, but it just seems like overkill to me.”