A Ring camera video showing three women outside a Black University of Mississippi student’s apartment has sparked widespread outrage, with social media users identifying the women as Lauren Mayfield, Alaina Kunes and Sara Whitehead and calling on Ole Miss to investigate the incident.
The controversy has also taken a wider turn after online posts connected Alaina Kunes to the Kunes Auto & RV Group, a Wisconsin dealership business previously involved in two separate racial discrimination controversies. One involved a racial slur appearing on a customer’s oil-change sticker, while another involved a salesman sending a Black customer an ape-themed GIF.
However, an important distinction remains: the alleged family relationship between Alaina Kunes and former Kunes Auto & RV Group executive Scott Kunes has not been independently confirmed. The dealership incidents also do not establish any involvement by Alaina in the earlier cases.
The controversy began after footage from a Ring doorbell camera outside the apartment of Ole Miss freshman Jakiyra Metcalf circulated online. The video shows three women walking through an apartment breezeway, with two appearing to make noises and gestures that viewers have described as racist monkey imitations.
The footage has prompted criticism of the conduct, demands for university accountability and questions about the safety and treatment of Black students living in the apartment complex.
What the Ole Miss Ring Camera Video Shows
The footage is dated November 6, 2026, at approximately 8:37 p.m. Central Time. It captures three young women walking past an apartment entrance in an outdoor breezeway.
Two of the women appear to make monkey-like noises and gestures as they pass the camera. The third woman walks behind them but does not appear to participate in the same behavior.
The approximately 13-second recording shows the women moving past the apartment door before turning toward an exterior staircase and leaving the camera’s view.
The video was shared by Jakiyra Metcalf, an Ole Miss freshman who identifies herself as a member of the University of Mississippi Class of 2030. She tagged the university in her post and questioned the behavior captured by the camera.
Metcalf later added that the women were their upstairs neighbors.
Her mother, Tasha Bolton, also addressed the incident in a Facebook post, describing the conduct as disgusting and unacceptable. Bolton said her daughter shares the apartment with two other Black roommates and that the women seen in the recording live upstairs from them.
Bolton confirmed that the family had shared the footage with university administration and wanted answers about how the incident would be handled.
She emphasized that college students should be able to learn and live in an environment where they feel safe and respected.
The recording quickly spread across social media, attracting widespread criticism and calls for the university to investigate. Many commenters have demanded disciplinary action against those responsible, while others have urged Ole Miss to publicly address the concerns raised by the student and her family.
Lauren Mayfield, Alaina Kunes and Sara Whitehead Identified Online
Social media users have identified the three women in the recording as Lauren Mayfield, Alaina Kunes and Sara Whitehead.
The names circulated after online users compared images, clothing and photographs associated with university and sorority-related social media accounts.
However, the University of Mississippi has not publicly confirmed the identities of the women in the footage.
The identification of the third woman has also generated debate. While two women appear to make the noises and gestures described by viewers as racist, the third is seen accompanying them. Online discussions have questioned whether her presence alone establishes participation in the conduct.
That distinction is important because the available footage does not appear to show all three women engaging in the same behavior.
The names circulating online should therefore be treated as social media identifications rather than university-confirmed findings.
Alpha Phi Denies That the Identified Women Are Members
The controversy initially generated claims that the women were members of the Iota Omega Chapter of Alpha Phi at Ole Miss.
However, the sorority issued a statement on November 8 rejecting those claims.
Alpha Phi said the individuals identified in social media posts concerning the incident were not members of the organization and had never been affiliated with the chapter.
The statement also said the online reports appeared to have confused the women with Alpha Phi members who have similar names.
The chapter condemned racist language and conduct, while emphasizing that correcting the alleged misidentification did not make the underlying incident any less serious.
Alpha Phi further said it was working with the university’s Fraternity and Sorority Life team and its executive office to correct the information circulating online.
The organization also expressed concern about the impact of false identification on women who had been wrongly associated with the incident.
The statement directly contradicts earlier online claims that the identified women belonged to Alpha Phi. Consequently, the sorority connection should not be presented as established fact.
Why Americans Are Contacting the University of Mississippi
The video has prompted calls for the University of Mississippi to investigate and explain what action it intends to take.
Online users have demanded a public response, a student conduct investigation and measures to protect Metcalf and her roommates from further harassment or intimidation.
Some have also called for the university to expel the women identified online. However, any disciplinary decision would require the university to establish the facts and follow its student conduct procedures.
The incident has attracted attention beyond the Ole Miss community because of the university’s history with racial tensions and previous controversies involving anti-Black conduct.
For Metcalf’s family, the immediate concern is what happened outside the apartment and what steps the university will take after receiving the footage.
Bolton has said the family wants accountability and answers from the administration.
Alaina Kunes and the Kunes Auto Group Connection: What Is Known About Scott Kunes?
The Ole Miss controversy expanded after social media creators began circulating posts connecting Alaina Kunes to Scott Kunes, a former executive at Kunes Auto & RV Group.
Online posts describe Scott Kunes as Alaina’s father and highlight two previous racial controversies involving dealerships associated with the Kunes business.
However, Baller Alert reported that it had been unable to verify whether Alaina Kunes is related to the family that owns the dealership group. Neither Alaina nor Kunes Auto & RV Group had publicly commented on the alleged relationship in the material provided.
Scott Kunes reportedly served as the company’s chief operating officer before leaving the position in February 2026. The dealership group was founded in 1997 and operates multiple locations across several states.
The company’s name has previously appeared in news coverage involving two separate incidents in Wisconsin: one concerning a racial slur on a customer’s service sticker and another involving a salesperson who sent a Black customer an ape-themed GIF.
Those cases have drawn renewed attention because of the online claims involving Alaina Kunes. Nevertheless, the earlier dealership incidents must be considered separately from the Ole Miss video. There is no established evidence in the supplied reports that Alaina participated in either dealership incident or that she was involved in the conduct captured by the Ring camera.
January 2025: Makayla Starks Finds a Racial Slur on Her Oil-Change Sticker
One of the earlier controversies involved Makayla Starks, a 33-year-old biracial woman who took her vehicle to Kunes Buick GMC in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, for an oil change in January 2025.
Starks had purchased her Nissan Rogue from the dealership the previous fall.
After receiving her vehicle, she discovered that a racial slur had been printed on the oil-change reminder sticker placed on her windshield.
Starks told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that an employee had apparently entered the slur into the comments section of the service sticker while her vehicle was being serviced.
She described being deeply upset when she discovered the wording.
The situation became more controversial after the dealership contacted her about an alleged tool left in the engine bay and requested to retrieve it. Starks said she became concerned about the dealership’s intentions after an employee reportedly suggested that the company was attempting to recover the sticker.
The dealership later apologized, attributed the incident to a former employee and said that employee had been fired. Kunes also offered Starks service credits that could be used at other locations.
The incident attracted national attention, including an act of support from Family Nissan owner Ramzey Rizk, who reportedly gifted Starks a Nissan Leaf electric vehicle.
Starks retained civil rights attorney William Sulton. According to the supplied reports, she filed a federal lawsuit on August 28, 2026.
The case became one of the most widely discussed racial controversies involving the Kunes dealership group.
March 2026: Kunes Salesman Sends Carolyn Word an Ape-in-a-Bikini GIF
A second controversy emerged in March 2026, involving Carolyn Word, a Black woman from Milwaukee who had purchased four vehicles from a Kunes dealership in Elkhorn, Wisconsin.
On March 25, Word received a text message from a salesperson with whom she had not previously dealt.
The salesperson initially sent a GIF featuring a waving bear and asked whether the message had reached Carolyn and whether she remained interested in purchasing a vehicle.
Word questioned the message and compared the image to racist imagery involving Black people.
While she was reportedly speaking with a dealership manager to report the incident, the salesperson sent another GIF. This one depicted a dancing ape wearing a bathing suit.
Word described the exchange as insulting and racially offensive.
In an interview with TMJ4, she said the images made her feel humiliated and violated, particularly because she had been a repeat customer of the dealership.
Kunes Auto & RV Group told the television station that the salesperson was no longer employed by the company.
Mike Kunes described the conduct as disgusting and said the employee was no longer with the dealership.
The incident also drew a response from civil rights attorney William Sulton, who represented Word and Starks. Sulton criticized the repeated controversies and called for the dealership group to introduce anti-racism training for its employees.
Kunes said it was taking steps to ensure its approximately 3,000 employees treated customers with dignity and respect.
Why the Two Dealership Controversies Are Being Linked to the Ole Miss Video
The dealership cases have resurfaced in online discussions because social media users are attempting to connect Alaina Kunes to Scott Kunes and the Kunes business.
Some commenters have used the phrase “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” while discussing the alleged family relationship.
Others have questioned whether the Milwaukee Bucks, which has reportedly had a sponsorship relationship with Kunes, should continue associating with the dealership group.
However, the online criticism has moved beyond the facts established by the dealership cases.
The two Wisconsin incidents involved separate customers, separate employees and different circumstances. The dealership’s response included the reported dismissal of employees involved in the incidents.
The alleged relationship between Alaina and Scott Kunes remains unverified in the supplied reporting. More importantly, a family connection, even if established, would not prove that Alaina shares responsibility for conduct involving dealership employees.
Likewise, the dealership controversies do not establish what happened in the Ole Miss apartment breezeway. That incident must be assessed on its own evidence.
Ole Miss Has a Long History of Racial Tensions
The latest controversy has also revived discussions about the University of Mississippi’s history with race.
In 1962, James Meredith became the first Black student to enroll at the previously segregated university after a lengthy legal battle. His enrollment was met with violent resistance, and federal troops were deployed to enforce the court-ordered integration.
In 1988, a fire destroyed a Black fraternity house on campus, another event that remains part of the university’s racial history.
The university also faced controversy over Confederate symbols and demonstrations, including a Confederate rally on campus in 2019.
More recently, on May 2, 2024, a white counter-protester at a pro-Palestinian demonstration was filmed making monkey-like noises and gestures toward a Black female graduate student.
The counter-protester was later identified as James “JP” Staples, a member of Phi Delta Theta. The national fraternity removed him from the organization, and the university opened a student conduct investigation.
The similarities between the 2024 incident and the latest Ring camera controversy have prompted some students and social media users to question whether the university has adequately addressed anti-Black behavior on campus.
The university’s racial history is therefore an important part of the public reaction, although the previous incidents do not establish responsibility in the latest case.
What Happens Next?
The central questions now concern the identities of the women in the Ring camera recording, the university’s investigation and the measures that may be taken to address the concerns raised by Metcalf and her roommates.
The family says the footage has been shared with university administration and is seeking answers.
Alpha Phi has denied that the women identified online are affiliated with the sorority and says it is working to correct the alleged misidentification.
Separately, online claims connecting Alaina Kunes to former Kunes Auto & RV Group executive Scott Kunes remain unverified in the supplied reporting. The dealership’s previous controversies involving Makayla Starks and Carolyn Word are documented in separate news reports, but they do not establish any involvement by Alaina.
As of the reports provided for this article, the University of Mississippi had not publicly confirmed the identities of the women in the video or announced disciplinary action in the case. No public university statement addressing the incident had been included in the supplied material.
For Metcalf and her roommates, the immediate issue remains the behavior captured outside their apartment and whether the university will take steps to address their concerns
