OKLAHOMA CITY — One of the students involved in a racist video that went viral earlier this month -- leading the University of Oklahoma to expel him and another student and shut down their fraternity -- apologized for his actions at a news conference on Wednesday."I will be deeply sorry and ashamed for the rest of my life," said Highland Park High School alum Levi Pettit, 20.
However, he would not talk about the chant in the video or who taught it to him.
"I'm not here to talk about where I learned the chant or where it was taught. I'm here to apologize for what I did," he said. "The truth is, what was said in that chant is disgusting.
"I've learned that those words should never be repeated, joked about or used in any form ever again," he continued.
As part of his looking toward the future rather than the past, Pettit shared the positive he hopes comes from the situation that he said stripped him of the privileges of college life at OU.
"All the apologies in the world won't change what I've done," he said, "so I will spend the rest of my life trying to be the person who heals and brings people of all races together."
Pettit offered his apology at an Oklahoma City church. He's partnered with Oklahoma State Senator Anastasia Pittman, who chairs the Oklahoma Black Caucus and graduated from OU.
"Some have wondered why I hadn't spoken out publicly," Pettit said in his statement. "The truth is, I have had a mix of pain, shame, sorrow and fear over the consequences of my actions. I did not want to apologize to the press or to the whole country until I first came to apologize to those most directly impacted."
His family issued an apology after the video surfaced, calling it disgusting and saying their son is not a racist.
"I will spend the rest of my life trying to be a person who heals and brings people of all races together," he said. "That is what I hope and pray will come out of this."
