University of Mississippi opens student conduct probe after confrontation between Black student and counterprotesters
Cnn2024/5/18
The entrance to the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi, is pictured in 2022.
CNN —
The University of Mississippi has opened a student conduct investigation after actions of “hostility and racist overtones” were portrayed during a demonstration on campus.
The incident unfolded Thursday on the school’s campus during a heated exchange between a group of pro-Palestinian protesters and a much larger group of counterprotesters.
About 30 pro-Palestinian protesters were demonstrating in a barricaded zone when they were surrounded by an estimated 200 counterprotesters, some holding American flags, several Trump flags and some dressed in red, white, and blue.
While there are multiple videos circulating online showing the protest at varying times, one video in particular shows a group of mostly young white men in the counterprotest yelling at a Black woman, at least one counterprotester is seen on video making what appears to be monkey gestures at the woman, although CNN has not confirmed that is the case, as she records the group on her phone.
Jaylin R. Smith, 24, confirmed to CNN she is the woman seen in the video.
“One thing that will never break me is people taunting me or making monkey noises at me,” the journalism and new media graduate student told CNN on Friday.
The video viewed by CNN shows a large group of counterprotesters yelling at Smith as she walks toward them while holding her phone. Law enforcement appeared to be telling her to “go back” to where other pro-Palestinian protesters were rallying. Smith is heard in the video saying, “I’m not so peaceful” repeatedly as police usher her away from the counterprotesters.
CNN has been unable to identify any of the counterprotesters seen in the video.
A letter from Chancellor Glenn F. Boyce says university officials are “aware that some statements made were offensive, hurtful and unacceptable, including actions that conveyed hostility and racist overtones” and that at least one student conduct investigation has been opened.
The Chancellor noted that the university is determining if any additional investigations are necessary.
US Representative Mike Collins, a Republican representing parts of Georgia, shared the viral video on X saying, “Ole Miss taking care of business.” CNN has reached out to Collins’ office.
The NAACP sent a letter to congressional leadership Saturday asking for an investigation into Collins’ conduct. “These actions conducted by a member of the House of Representatives, regardless of intent, legitimize and propagate racism and undermine the principles of equality and justice that our government is sworn to uphold,” the letter shared exclusively with CNN says in part.
Smith said at the protest, Pro-Palestinian demonstrators were kept in an enclosure, which police said was for their safety. She told CNN she briefly stepped out of the enclosure to go live on social media, and that was when the confrontation took place.
Protesters carry Palestinian flags during the University of Michigan's main commencement in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Saturday, May 4. Protesters were removed from ceremony after briefly interrupting the proceedings. No one was arrested, according to Melissa Overton, the university's deputy police chief and public information officer.
Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate on the New York University campus in New York on Friday, May 3.
Police officers block off an area on the Portland State University campus in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, May 2.
Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate on the George Washington University campus in Washington, DC, on May 2.
Protesters deface a car after a man drove it toward a crowd at Portland State University in Portland on May 2. The driver stopped just short of a group of protesters and sprayed them with "some kind of pepper spray," police said.
Activists make protest signs inside a pro-Palestinian encampment at The George Washington University on May 2.
Emma, right, sheds a tear as she and her friend Aryn listen to the names of Israeli hostages as they attend a pro-Israel rally at George Washington University on May 2.
Police face off with pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on May 2.
A protester is detained at UCLA on May 2.
Pro-Palestinian protesters stand their ground after police breached their encampment at UCLA on May 2.
Police take down a barricade as protesters gather at an encampment at UCLA on May 2.
Pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside Fordham University's Lincoln Center campus after a group created an encampment inside the building in New York on Wednesday, May 1.
A man is detained after a scuffle as pro-Palestinian protesters rally outside Fordham on May 1.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators rebuild a barricade around an encampment at UCLA on May 1. Before police were deployed to campus, pro-Palestinian protesters and Israel supporters were clashing at the school, according to multiple reports.
Police officers stand guard after clashes erupted on the campus of UCLA.
Counter-protesters attack a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA.
Police use a vehicle named "the bear" to enter Hamilton Hall, which was occupied by protesters at Columbia University in New York on Tuesday, April 30. About 300 protesters were arrested, according to the NYPD.
Police detain a protester at Columbia on April 30.
Pro-Palestinian protesters climb a fence during demonstrations at The City College of New York on April 30.
An NYPD bus transports arrested demonstrators at Columbia on April 30.
Protesters confront police at The City College of New York on April 30.
NYPD officers march into Columbia on April 30.
Protesters occupy Columbia's Hamilton Hall early on April 30.
Protesters barricade themselves inside Hamilton Hall on April 30. Dozens of protesters were occupying Hamilton Hall, one of the campus buildings also occupied during 1968 student protests, according to a social media post from Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine.
A protester breaks the windows of the front door of Hamilton Hall in order to secure a chain around it and prevent authorities from entering early on April 30.
Protesters at Brown University celebrate April 30 after reaching a deal with the administration to end their encampment in Providence, Rhode Island. The university agreed to hold a vote on divestment from companies that support Israel, according to the protest group.
Columbia University students gather for a picket organized by the Student Workers Union (UAW Local 2710) on Monday, April 29.
Pro-Palestinian protesters confront a Texas state trooper at the University of Texas in Austin on April 29.
A protester at Columbia University wears the university's disciplinary notice on April 29.
Demonstrators march past Low Library while chanting "Free Palestine" on Columbia's campus on April 29.
Students from George Washington University stand on top of police barricades as they protest in Washington, DC, on April 29.
Pro-Palestinian students and activists participate in a demonstration at UCLA on Sunday, April 28.
Students and pro-Palestinian supporters occupy a plaza at New York University on April 26.
Georgia State Patrol officers detain a demonstrator on the campus of Emory University during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Atlanta on April 25.
Jewish students wave Israeli flags as a counter-protest near a pro-Palestinian camp at UCLA on April 25.
Texas state troopers try to break up a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas in Austin on April 24.
Students at the University of Texas at Austin watch a protest from a classroom window on April 24.
Students are arrested during the protest in Austin on April 24. There were dozens of arrests. University police had warned students in an email that they faced more arrests if they didn't disperse from the site.
Protesters link arms at Emerson College in Boston on April 24.
House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks to the media on the campus of Columbia University after meeting with Jewish students on April 24. He called on the school's president to resign during a tense news conference where the crowd repeatedly interrupted him and at times loudly booed him and other Republican lawmakers who were with him.
Demonstrators' tents are set up on Columbia's campus in New York on April 24. The school is also preparing for graduation ceremonies.
Demonstrators work on a banner April 24 at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.
Protesters demonstrate at the University of Texas in Austin on April 24.
Demonstrators and Texas state troopers face one another in Austin on April 24.
Police stand near protesters at the University of Southern California on April 24.
New York police officers stand near protesters outside the main entrance of Columbia University on April 24.
Columbia students prepare to camp overnight on April 23.
A group of Jewish and non-Jewish students gather at the Columbia encampment to celebrate Seder, a ritual feast at the start of the Jewish holiday of Passover. Columbia student Cameron Jones told CNN: "I am Jewish and, to me, Passover symbolizes perseverance and resilience. I think this encampment represents those two ideals because we have seen the university take countless measures to try to suppress our student activism, and here is us persevering through that."
A makeshift memorial at Columbia, seen on April 23, pays tribute to Jewish hostages taken by Hamas in October.
Students protest near New York University on April 23.
Students at the University of California, Berkeley, set up an encampment at Sproul Hall on April 23.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators sit at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, on April 23. University police arrested at least 45 protesters the day before and charged them with criminal trespassing after they refused orders to leave.
Police and protesters face off at New York University on April 22.
Police officers clear away tents from an encampment at New York University on April 22.
People watch from a window as New York University students set up a tent encampment on April 22.
Students and pro-Palestinian supporters rally at The New School in New York on April 22.
Students rally at an encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge on April 22.
A pro-Palestinian protest is held at the steps of Columbia's Lowe Library on April 22.
Some Columbia professors rally in support of their protesting students on April 22.
Israeli flags are reflected in the sunglasses of a demonstrator in front of Columbia University on April 22.
Student activists set up camp at a New School cafeteria on April 21.
Pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside a Columbia building on April 20.
Police officers stand near barriers as pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside of Columbia on April 18.
In pictures: Gaza protests spread at US colleges
“I said some insults back, too. I cursed like a sailor at them, and I regret letting them get to me like that,” Smith said.
“The monkey gestures – and people calling me fat or Lizzo – didn’t hurt my feelings, because I know what I am. I am so confident in my Blackness. I am so confident in my size, in the way that I wear my hair, and who I am. They do not bother me. If anything, I felt pity for them for how stupidly they acted,” Smith added.
The university’s Chancellor alluded to the “racist overtones” of the confrontation and the University of Mississippi has a long history of racial incidents, including the deadly riots that broke out there in 1962 when James Meredith became the first Black student to enroll at the school.
“Yesterday, we observed a demonstration on our campus—a place for the expression of diverse viewpoints, protected by our constitutional First Amendment Rights,” the Ole Miss Associate Student Body said in part in a statement on Friday, “Yet, amidst this expression, unacceptable remarks were made that departed from our cherished values.”
Smith said she is disappointed the confrontation has become the topic of conversation now, rather than a ceasefire in Gaza. She told CNN the graduate school dean and a few other school administrators have reached out to her since the video went viral. She is currently preparing to graduate on May 11.