The University of Oklahoma frat member caught on film apologized publicly today.

Susanna Kim reports for ABC News:

University of Oklahoma Fraternity Member Speaks Up for First Time

One of the former University of Oklahoma fraternity members seen chanting a racist song in a video spoke publicly for the first time today, saying he’s “deeply sorry” for the incident and will spend the rest of his life trying to set a better example.

Levi Pettit, a fraternity member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, was shown in a video discovered earlier this month chanting racial slurs that mentioned lynching and that African Americans would never be in the fraternity. Pettit’s parents released an apology on behalf of their son, but Pettit has so far remained silent. The other student who was expelled from the university earlier released a statement of apology.

“Let me start by saying I’m sorry, deeply sorry. I’m so sorry for the pain that I’ve caused and I want you to hear that directly from me. Even though I don’t deserve it I would like to ask for your forgiveness,” Pettit said, standing beside about a dozen community leaders. He said he “never thought of myself as a racist.”

When asked by reporters if he knew the meaning of the words, Pettit said, “I knew they were wrong, but I didn’t know how or why they were wrong.”