Allegations of racism at SMU go viral

As allegations of racism at Texas' Southern Methodist University mounted online, shocking posts from a Greek life forum surfaced, showing scathing racial tirades directed at black students at the school. As allegations of racism at Texas' Southern Methodist University mounted online, shocking posts from a Greek life forum surfaced, showing scathing racial tirades directed at black students at the school. Image 1 of / 29 Caption Close Allegations of racism at SMU go viral 1 / 29 Back to Gallery

Allegations of rampant racism in Greek life at Texas' Southern Methodist University are going viral. It started with media reports on a controversial fraternity party and scathing racist comments made online, then prompted creation of a hashtag where users talked being #BlackAtSMU.

At other U.S. universities, Greek life has caught flak as media attention turned this year to racist traditions in exclusive institutions, most notably when a University of Oklahoma fraternity was shuttered after video emerged of members singing a song about lynching.

RELATED: Racist chant renews old questions about U.S. fraternity culture

The recent race conversation at SMU turned up some shocking posts on the Greek life forum GreekRank.com, circulated on Twitter. A September 1 post listed 10 reasons why white SMU sororities don't accept black women, including that they are "aesthetically unpleasing" to the "fraternity men we associate with" and they are "not wealthy."

"Why do black women think they're entitled to joining OUR sororities? Honestly, this puts us off from y'all even more," it said.

Southern Methodist University. A white sorority explains why they won't accept Black women.(via @laylaevette) #MyPWI pic.twitter.com/bTmtpecEuK — MyPWI (@MyPWI) October 29, 2015

It was widely shared, but a cursory review of SMU postings on the same website turned up eight posts from September through October complaining about racial diversity in fraternities and sororities.

"As long as you're white, cute/not overweight then you'll be fine," one said. "We have a house for pretty much everyone."

"We aren't all equal and we aren't all meant to be in sororities," said another.

RELATED: UH suspends fraternity, 5 students after hazing allegations

On Thursday the Dallas Morning News reported the cancellation of a controversial fraternity party that stirred up allegations of racism. The Facebook event, since deleted, sports a picture of a Mississippi rapper biting a gold chain with a gold grill, wearing sunglasses reflecting a splay of $100 bills. The event encouraged guests to "bring out your bling, jerseys, and inner thug."

That report drew attention to race at SMU, and on Friday the Daily Beast reported on the vicious racial tirades circulating Greek life forums in the SMU community. According to the Daily Beast, 701 of SMU's 11,643 students are black, including 52 member of the current freshman class.