Follow-up: Ole Miss Student in Viral Doorbell Video Apologizes; University Confirms She Is No Longer a Student
There is a new development in the doorbell-video case at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), in Oxford, Lafayette County, Mississippi. On November 10, Alaina Kunes, a freshman identified as the first woman shown walking toward the camera in the video, issued a public apology through a letter from her lawyer. According to the Mississippi Clarion Ledger and People, the university confirmed to news outlets the same day that Kunes is no longer a student at the school. It did not clarify whether she was expelled or withdrew.
The incident took place on November 6. Jakiyra Metcalf, a Black student living in an off-campus apartment, posted a 13-second clip from her Ring doorbell camera to TikTok: three white women walked past her apartment door, and two of them made monkey-like noises and gestures toward the camera. Metcalf said she and her roommates later learned the women were upstairs neighbors. The clip then spread widely on social media, and GSM previously reported that the university had opened an investigation.
In the letter, Kunes wrote: "Before the incident on Nov. 6, I never met the women involved and was unaware of their race, however, I recognize my actions were 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." She also wrote that the women who live in the apartment "deserve to feel seen and understood," that what she did is not a reflection of who she is trying to become, and that she plans to cooperate fully with the university's investigation.
According to TMZ, Kunes said in the letter that her family has received death threats over the video, and she asked for privacy for her family. The university has previously said that, under student privacy laws, it will not share any disciplinary actions taken.
Shawnboda Mead, the university's vice chancellor for student affairs, wrote to the campus on November 8 condemning what she described as "racist gestures directed toward other students," and said the university's Office of Conflict Resolution and Student Conduct and its Office of Equal Opportunity and Regulatory Compliance are investigating. Demetrick M. Stringer Jr., executive president of the Ole Miss Black Student Union, wrote in a statement that comparisons of this kind "carry a long and painful history," condemned the behavior, and called for a full investigation and disciplinary measures consistent with the university's rulebook. According to the Clarion Ledger, the ACLU of Mississippi has received complaints about the incident and is looking into it.
Source: University of Mississippi
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：密西西比大学校园建筑Ventress Hall（资料图，Dudemanfellabra摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经Wikimedia Commons），非事发公寓。/ Ventress Hall on the University of Mississippi campus (file photo by Dudemanfellabra, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons); not the apartment in the video.
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- 2026-11-10Follow-up: Ole Miss Student in Viral Doorbell Video Apologizes; University Confirms She Is No Longer a StudentThis story
