Dear students, faculty and staff, 

Over the weekend, a video circulated on social media showing University of Mississippi students engaging in racist gestures directed toward other students. The behavior depicted in this video is deeply troubling, hurtful, and unacceptable. We condemn the behavior as it does not reflect our university's values or the kind of community we strive to be every day.

Our staff have reached out to the students directly impacted to offer support, listen to their concerns, and connect them with available resources. We will continue to support them as we work through this process. More broadly, we recognize that situations like this can cause hurt and concern among members of our campus community. We care about your well-being, and we are committed to supporting you. We encourage anyone in need to seek assistance from university services, including the University Counseling Center and UMatter: Student Support & Advocacy.

At the same time, the incident is being actively investigated by the appropriate university offices, including the Office of Conflict Resolution and Student Conduct and Equal Opportunity and Regulatory Compliance. We are committed to following our established processes to ensure a thorough review while prioritizing the safety and well-being of our campus community. While student privacy laws limit what we can share about individual students, including any potential disciplinary action, please know that this matter is being taken seriously.

We also want to encourage everyone to be thoughtful about the information being shared on social media. We are aware that one student has been incorrectly identified as being involved in this incident. To be clear, no members of our sorority community were involved. Sharing unverified information can cause additional harm to people who had nothing to do with what occurred.

Every student deserves to feel safe, respected, and valued at the University of Mississippi. Racism and actions that disparage people because of an aspect of their identity have no place in our campus community. We remain committed to ensuring our actions reflect the foundational values of dignity and respect for every individual and fostering an environment where all students are cared for and feel they belong.

Sincerely,

Shawnboda Mead, EdD

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs

The University of Mississippi