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Black Ole Miss students targeted outside their own apartment have spoken publicly for the first time.
The freshmen and one of their mothers gave their first television interview on Wednesday, November 11.
Their words came one day after Alaina Kunes apologized and her withdrawal from the university was confirmed.
What the mother said most of all is drawing attention across the country this morning.
She did not call for ruin. She spoke about grace, youth and a life changed.
Major Takeaways
- The Black freshmen spoke publicly for the first time on Wednesday about the November 6 video.
- One mother said she hates that Kunes withdrew, because the choice will affect her life too.
- One resident said the withdrawal was a good option for Kunes and for her peace and safety.
- The campus investigation continues, and the second woman in the video remains publicly unnamed.
1. Black Ole Miss Students Speak in Their Own Words
Until Wednesday, the public had heard from officials, lawyers and a student who apologized.
The young women behind the apartment door had not yet told the story themselves.
That changed when the freshmen sat for the interview with one of their mothers beside them.
The mother, who was not named in the interview coverage, spoke with striking calm.
She said she hates that Kunes withdrew from the school in Oxford.
She noted that Kunes had started at the university only about three months earlier.
Her reasoning reached past anger and toward the weight of a single night.
She said the course of a young life will be affected by this choice too.
That is somebody’s child, she said, and that fact bothers her deeply.
She said she does not like to see young people carry this kind of harm.
These babies are 18, she said, speaking about every freshman in the story.
She closed with a wish that people would be mindful and just think.
One of the residents answered the withdrawal in a different and quieter way.
She said the move felt right for Kunes and for her peace and safety.
I feel it was like a good option for her, the resident said.
2. What Happened Outside Their Door on November 6
The video is timestamped about 8:37 p.m. on Friday, November 6.
A doorbell camera recorded the scene outside an apartment shared by three Black students.
Two women beat their chests and made monkey sounds and gestures toward the door.
A third woman walked with them and made no gestures or noises.
The clip runs 13 seconds, and the women then walk away from the door.
Jakirya Metcalf, who lives in the apartment, posted the video the next day, November 7.
The video spread fast online and has drawn millions of views and national outrage.
Our first report on the Ole Miss investigation covered the video and the first campus response.
Metcalf shares the home with Kaiyden Caldwell, age 18, and one more roommate.
For these students, the place in the video is not a public square.
It is home, the place where they sleep, study and lock the door at night.
That is why the act landed as a threat to safety, not a prank.
3. Families Demand Safety and Full Accountability
Vincent Ford is the grandfather of Kaiyden Caldwell, one of the residents.
Ford, age 54, is a retired federal law enforcement officer.
He said his granddaughter contacted him right after the incident happened.
He said he was deeply disturbed by the video he then watched.
His first concern was simple. He wanted the young women to be safe.
Even though these type of things happen, they are not tolerated, Ford said.
We are gonna make sure that everybody is held accountable, he added.
Tasha Bolton posted the video as well and asked the university for answers.
She said her daughter sent her the footage from the shared apartment.
She asked what steps would be taken and how accountability would be ensured.
The Black Student Union at Ole Miss made the same demand in writing.
President Demetrick M. Stringer Jr. called for a full investigation of the incident.
He asked for discipline that fits the serious nature of race based harassment.
Comparisons of this kind carry a long and painful history, Stringer wrote.
He said directing them at a student where she lives leaves members feeling unwelcome and unsafe.
4. An Apology on Tuesday and a Withdrawal Confirmed
Kunes, age 18 and from Wisconsin, identified herself in a statement on November 10.
She called her actions insensitive, inappropriate and deeply harmful in that statement.
She said she had never met the women and was unaware of their race.
I would never intentionally make those noises or gestures toward a person of color, she said.
I have apologized to the women and I pray they will forgive me, she added.
She said she can never truly understand the pain she caused them.
Our Tuesday report on the apology covered her full statement and the campus reaction.
Her attorney later confirmed that Kunes has withdrawn from the university.
She was a freshman, and her time at Ole Miss lasted one fall term.
Kunes cited safety concerns and harassment in her decision to leave school.
She said she and her family have received death threats in recent days.
She thanked authorities for working to keep her family safe and asked for privacy.
She also pledged to cooperate fully with the university investigation still underway.
5. What Ole Miss Still Owes Its Black Students
Vice Chancellor Shawnboda Mead condemned the video in a letter on November 8.
She called the behavior deeply troubling, hurtful and unacceptable for the campus.
She said the behavior does not reflect the values of the university.
She also said the matter is being taken seriously by campus leaders.
At the same time, she said student privacy law limits public detail.
The university cannot share much about discipline that may follow from the probe.
Mead also warned that at least one accused student was wrongly identified online.
She said no members of the sorority community were involved in the video.
The second woman who made the gestures has still not been publicly identified.
This is not the first such shame Ole Miss has faced on camera.
In May 2024, a student made monkey noises at a Black graduate student on campus.
His fraternity removed him, and the university opened an investigation then as well.
Black families remember that history when they send a child to Oxford.
They ask whether home on campus will be safe for their child.
A mother answered that question on Wednesday with grace under real pain.
Grace, though, is a gift from the harmed. It is not a debt they owe.
What happens next belongs to the university, its probe and its public choices.
Follow continuing coverage at Urban City Podcast as the investigation moves toward its outcome.
