Some University of Mississippi students and parents are calling on officials to address concerns about campus climate and culture after a video showing white students making racist gestures outside Black students’ apartment went viral.
Parents have emailed Chancellor Glenn Boyce and other university leaders calling for the students to be suspended or expelled. Other social media commenters have pointed to Ole Miss’ history of racism, while students have demanded a thorough investigation.
They’ve also expressed outrage and disappointment about the latest incident.
Kristina Pluta of Utah, whose son Jansen is a sophomore at UM, said she felt shocked and disgusted when she first saw a video of the incident on Instagram Saturday night. Racism and hatred are learned behaviors that can be unlearned, she said.
“There has to be consequences and the university should hold the students’ behavior accountable,” said Pluta, who is white.
The University of Mississippi in Oxford, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today“I just hope the girls that did it will be able to learn from this experience. I want them to grow beyond their ignorance and prejudice that informed their behavior.”
On Friday night, a doorbell camera recorded three young white women making ape-like gestures and noises as they walked past Ole Miss student Jakiyra Metcalf’s apartment door. Metcalf posted the video on TikTok and tagged the university in the caption with the question, “what do we have to say about this??”
By Tuesday, the TikTok video had more than 12.6 million views, about 1 million likes and more than 37,000 comments.
It has drawn national media attention and sparked outrage and criticism over the apparent use of the racist trope and behavior at the university. The university has tried over the last several decades to distance itself, amid fits and starts, from a history of racism.
Metcalf could not immediately be reached for comment.
Alaina Kunes, one of the students identified making gestures in the video, issued a statement Tuesday apologizing for the incident. She said she didn’t know the race of the students in the apartment.
University leaders have said they’re investigating the incident. Shawnboda Mead, UM’s vice chancellor for student affairs, condemned the behavior in a statement published Sunday.
The incident has contributed to many students feeling “unwelcomed and unsafe,” Demetrick Stringer Jr., president of the university’s Black Student Union, said in a statement released Sunday. In addition to an investigation, he called for campus officials to support the affected students and make stronger efforts to educate students about the university’s values.
“We believe this moment calls for education,” Stringer wrote. “The students involved are new to our community and we encourage the University to strengthen how first year students are introduced to the University creed and its commitment to respect for the dignity of each person, so that no student has this experience again.”
Taylor Winfield, a senior multidisciplinary studies major, said the incident also prompted criticism from social media commenters of Black students who chose to attend Ole Miss rather than one of Mississippi’s historically Black universities.
Students walk near Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on the campus of the University of Mississippi, Thursday, March 26, 2026, in Oxford. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi TodayWinfield said Black students have a place at Ole Miss and can help change campus culture by being a part of it.
“It’s been a great place for us,” said Winfield, who is Black. “No matter the situation, it’s still our home.”
But for Kierah Robinson, a junior political science major, the university’s response doesn’t fully address Black students’ concerns.
The students targeted by the gestures shouldn’t have to question their safety and comfort in their own home, she said. Robinson identifies as Black.
“The psychological feeling of not feeling safe or feeling like you belong in the spaces you have a right to occupy is a form of racial violence,” Robinson said.
The university should be transparent about its investigation and any disciplinary process while maintaining privacy limits, she said.
The incident cannot be separated from the university’s history of racism, Robinson said.
That history includes a riot in 1962 when James Meredith attempted to enroll and students’ pro-Palestinian demonstrations in 2024, when counter-protestors shouted racist remarks such as “hit the showers” and “your nose is huge.”
University officials should engage with Black students about what it would take to make them feel safer and more welcomed on campus, she said. While the university has taken steps to address its past, Robinson said that progress doesn’t mean the work is finished.
“We can care deeply about our school and still hold it accountable,” Robinson said. “Racism exists everywhere and wanting better for institutions means being willing to challenge it at the same time.”
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