W E E K E N D E D I T I O N | F E B R U A R Y 9 -12 , 2 0 17 | T W I C E W E E K LY I N P R I N T | O U D A I LY. C O M
OU DAILY
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IN LOVING MEMORY
Delta Upsilon and OU community members raise their candles in the air in memory of the late Kyle O’Brien on Tuesday at the DU house.
OU community gathers at vigil to remember Kyle O’Brien ABOUT KYLE:
Kyle O’Brien Year: sophomore Major: finance Born: April 4, 1997 Died: Feb. 3, 2017 Kyle O’Brien was a member of Delta Upsilon and a resident of Grapevine, Texas. He graduated from Flower Mound High School. His funeral will be held Feb. 11 in Grapevine, Texas.
K
ANDREW CLARK • @CLARKY_TWEETS
yle O’Brien would often give the same answer to those who asked him how he was doing. “I can’t complain. I’m still alive.” But Tuesday, Kyle’s brothers, friends, acquaintances, family and more gathered in front of the Delta Upsilon house to mourn his unexpected death Friday in Oklahoma City. Kyle, who OU listed as a finance sophomore, visibly impacted the lives of the 20 or so men who memorialized him Tuesday night with tear-filled speeches and stories. He was d e s c r i b e d a s a n i c e, g o o f y , happy and caring person — one speaker said he had “an aura that was inescapable and contagious.” “Each day that me, Mac and Justin would be getting ready to go work out at the (Sarkeys Fitness Center), we play some music pretty loud, and obviously he could hear it in his room,” said Kody Fagin, one of Kyle’s fraternity brothers who lived next to him. “And for some reason in Kyle’s room they had this huge hole in the wall,” Fagin said. “And Kyle had this portable speaker and he would put it into the wall and blast the most random music to
try and drown out our music.” It became almost a daily habit. Another DU brother had been in talks with Kyle to study abroad with him and to start a company together. He recalled Kyle writing “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take” on the wall each time before he studied, except he’d attribute it not to Wayne Gretzky, but to Michael Scott from “The Office.” “(Kyle was) the best person I’ve ever known,” he said. “We’ll all live much better lives because of that man.” Many remembered Kyle’s love for the New York Jets. If Kyle was guarding someone when he himself was playing football, he would tell his opponents they were on “O’Brien Island,” a spin on the Darrelle Revistrademarked saying. He took pride that the team, which has had one winning season since 2011, would often have a higher draft pick than most other teams. Ev e n m o re t h a n t h e Je t s, many others’ memories of Kyle revolved around sports. One of Kyle’s fraternity “littles” recalled a time when Kyle hit a drive on the golf course like Adam Sandler in “Happy Gilmore.” Jack Slay, another of Kyle’s brothers, said he and Kyle once
ran a 5K without training for it. Another said Kyle often pestered him to get lacrosse sticks so they could play together — something he never did. “I sort of wish I could play lacrosse with him right now.” He danced to make people laugh. He was there for another brother after his grandmother died, even offering to drive him to Dallas to be with family. He was there for seemingly everyone. Attendees, once all had shared their memories, lit candles in honor and in remembrance of Kyle. Then, slowly, after a period of deep thought and prayer, they disappeared. At the vigil, Kyle’s father, William, said his funeral will be at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Grapevine, Texas. Much is still unknown about the manner of Kyle’s death. Oklahoma City Police are investigating a suspicious death from Friday night in which the body of a man in his 20s was found at the base of a parking garage, but it is unconfirmed whether the two situations are linked. Andrew Clark
OU’S PROCESS:
What happens when a student dies After a student, faculty or staff member reports a student’s death, Student Affairs staff then: • Notifies the dean of the college the student was in as well as their professors, their academic adviser and others, distributing any information they can find about memorial services or funerals. • Withdraws the student from his or her classes • Notifies OU President David Boren so he can reach out to the family with condolences • Communicates with offices (such as the Bursar) others to gather information about outstanding balances • Offers counseling and support services to the family and friends of the student • Gathers academic information about the student to provide to the dean of his or her college, who determines whether the student meets the Board of Regents’ qualifications for a posthumous degree Source: Kristen Partridge, associate vice president for student affairs
andrewclark@ou.edu
Investigation addresses racist messages Federal authorites look into offensive messages sent by Tulsa-area men CLIFTON ADCOCK, OKLAHOMA WATCH
Federal agents investigating racist messages sent shortly after the 2016 presidential election interviewed three men who graduated from Tulsa-area high schools in recent years, obtaining search warrants for the home and phone of one of them, federal court records show. The FBI inquiries were in connection with messages sent to several University of Pennsylvania freshmen in November — an incident that sparked outrage at that university, made national headlines and was listed among several examples of race-based harassment that followed the election. The University of Pennsylvania is Trump’s alma mater. The incident threw a spotlight
on O klahoma be caus e the University of Oklahoma, where one of the Tulsa-area graduates was attending, suspended that student while an investigation occurred. News coverage also referred to the 2015 scandal over a video of OU fraternity members singing a racist chant. None of those named in an FBI affidavit about the messages has been charged with a crime. In that search-warrant affidavit, filed in U.S. District Court in Tulsa, the FBI said it was investigating the matter under federal law that prohibits sending interstate messages threatening another person. The affidavit details findings of the investigation. Oklahoma
Watch is not identifying the students named in the document because of the absence of charges. The messages in question were sent through the GroupMe app, on which users can create groups, share text messages, photos and videos, and create events. On Nov. 10, a University of Pennsylvania freshman, who is African-American, began receiving messages from a group called “Trump is Love,” of which she was not a member. One user, using the handle “Daddy Trump,” sent a message to the student with a profane acronym and a racial slur for black people, the affidavit says. The next morning, the
student began receiving messages from another group she was not a member of, called “Mud Men,” that featured an automated greeting using the same racial slur and referring to Sigma Alpha Epsilon, the fraternity whose OU chapter was booted from campus after the racist-chant video surfaced. The student told investigators that she received the message repeatedly. She then got an event invitation scheduled for that day, titled “Daily Lynching,” with the question, “Going?” and buttons allowing the recipient to select yes or no. The message thread also contained
see MESSAGES page 2