Thirteen seconds is the whole video. A Ring doorbell camera outside an off-campus apartment in Oxford caught two young women making monkey noises and gestures right at the door. The apartment is home to three Black freshmen.
Jakiyra Metcalf, one of the women who lives there, posted the clip to TikTok on Friday, and it did millions of views over the weekend. By Sunday, Ole Miss had called the behavior “deeply troubling, hurtful, and unacceptable” and opened an investigation.
On Tuesday, one of the women came forward through her lawyer. Alaina Kunes, 18, an Ole Miss freshman, apologized to the women and to the school. She says she had never met the women who live in that apartment and did not know their race — and that what she did was still, in her words, “insensitive, inappropriate, and deeply harmful.”
“I would have never intentionally made those noises or gestures toward a person of color. I have apologized to the women and I pray they will forgive me.”
Kunes says she will cooperate with the university’s investigation. Her enrollment is already settled, though: Ole Miss confirmed Tuesday that she is no longer a student. The school won’t say if she was expelled or withdrew, and the investigation into the rest of the video is still open.
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