Key Takeaways
- Ole Miss launched two investigations into Ring doorbell footage showing white students making racist monkey noises and gestures outside Black students’ home.
- Student Jakiyra Metcalf shared the video on TikTok, and her mother, Tasha Bolton, demanded accountability and said the women lived upstairs from her daughter.
- Vice Chancellor Shawnboda Mead condemned the behavior as “deeply troubling, hurtful, and unacceptable” and said racism has no place in the campus community.
The University of Mississippi, otherwise known as Ole Miss, is launching two probes into a viral video captured by a Ring doorbell that showed white students being racist while passing the front door of a home of Black students, the New York Post reports.
The video, which was first shared on TikTok by Ole Miss student Jakiyra Metcalf, showed three women passing the front door of her residence while making monkey noises and gestures. In the clip, the two students could be seen directly looking into the camera, as if to show the students that it was a targeted incident. Jakiyra Metcalf’s mother, Tasha Bolton, also shared the video on Facebook and said the women in the video lived upstairs from her daughter.
“The video has been shared with university administration, and we want answers,” Bolton wrote. “Specifically, what steps will be taken to address this behavior and ensure accountability? This is absolutely disgusting and unacceptable. College is supposed to be a place where young adults can learn, grow, and feel safe. And let me be clear: If you watch this video and genuinely don’t see anything wrong with this type of behavior, please delete me. We clearly don’t share the same values.”
Ole Miss’ vice chancellor for student affairs, Shawnboda Mead, has since released a statement indicating the school is aware of the incident and is investigating further.
“The behavior depicted in this video is deeply troubling, hurtful, and unacceptable. We condemn the behavior as it does not reflect our university's values or the kind of community we strive to be every day,” Mead wrote. “The incident is being actively investigated by the appropriate university offices, including the Office of Conflict Resolution and Student Conduct and Equal Opportunity and Regulatory Compliance.”
Mead stressed that every student at Ole Miss deserves to “feel safe, respected, and valued,” and “racism and actions that disparage people because of an aspect of their identity have no place in our campus community.”
