Ole Miss Students Say Taunts Continued After Apology

Johnson said one of the women apologized and told the students she and her friends had beaten their chests at four other apartment doors. The woman also said they “didn’t mean any harm,” Johnson recalled. She said she had urged them not to repeat the behavior, even if they had gone to other residents’ doors, because it was “very disrespectful.”

On November 10, one woman in the video identified herself online as 18-year-old Alaina Kunes. In her statement, she said she had not known the apartment’s residents were Black and called her actions “insensitive, inappropriate, and deeply harmful.” Kunes said she had spoken with the residents and was praying for their forgiveness. She also acknowledged the potential impact on people of color, saying the students “deserve to feel seen and understood.”

The Black students said they appreciated the apology but remained hurt and uncertain. One said the gestures and noises were disrespectful regardless of whether the women knew their race; another said the apology did not change what happened on Friday or how devastating it felt to have someone come to their door and behave that way.

Ole Miss confirmed it is investigating the video and called the behavior “deeply troubling, hurtful, and unacceptable.” Kunes said she would cooperate with the inquiry. TMZ reported that she has since withdrawn from classes. The incident has also renewed discussion of the university’s history of racial discrimination; the History Channel notes that Ole Miss admitted its first Black student in 1962, prompting major upheaval on campus.