A sorority sister at the University of Tennessee was suspended Thursday after video surfaced showing her making a racial slur.
The Alpha Chi Omega chapter at the 28,000-student university in Knoxville blasted the “outrageous and racist” conduct shown on the 6-second clip posted on Twitter showing a young woman answering a question from someone off-camera after taking a drag off what appears to be a cigarette.
Yikes @utkaxo this is one of your members Savannah Micillo. I just graduated from #utk & this disgusting behavior SHOULD NOT be tolerated pic.twitter.com/5zr1TYWXWH
— +300 PETITIONS IN BIO (@zairequinn) January 3, 2019
“Sav, what do you call black people?” a male voice asks.
“N—-rs!” the girl replies after exhaling.
The original tweet identified the woman seen on the footage as Savannah Micillo.
“I just graduated from #utk & this disgusting behavior SHOULD NOT be tolerated,” the message read.
A directory at the university contains a listing for Savannah Ellie Micillo, a pre-professional program major. She did not return several messages seeking comment Friday.
Officials from the sorority responded to the original tweet just four hours after it was posted and indicated that the member seen on the footage had been suspended, effective immediately.
“Our chapter and this entire campus should be able to expect far more from our members,” Alpha Chi Omega tweeted.
A national spokeswoman for Alpha Chi Omega denounced the footage in a statement to The Post.
“The racist behavior displayed in this video is abhorrent and grotesque,” spokeswoman Erin Witt said. “Upon learning of this member’s actions and seeing the outrageous conduct displayed in the video posted yesterday, the leadership of our chapter at the University of Tennessee immediately suspended the member seen in the video.”
The sorority has since begun the process to terminate Micillo’s membership, Witt said.
“We are committed to being a partner to the University of Tennessee and the entire university community; our members, and their peers across campus, deserve far better than the conduct displayed here,” Witt’s statement continued.
University officials also criticized the video, saying it did not represent the community’s values of “civility and inclusion,” according to a statement released Friday.
“The Dean of Students and the Office of Sorority and Fraternity Life have been in touch with UT’s Alpha Chi Omega chapter and its national headquarters,” the statement read. “Federal law prohibits the university from sharing how the university handles matters with individual students.”
