Ole Miss student apologizes for lynching remark
JACKSON, Miss. – A white University of Mississippi student is withdrawing from school and publicly apologizing for his Facebook post about lynching people who were protesting the killing of a black man by North Carolina police officers.
The post prompted protests Sept. 23 on the Oxford campus, and Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter condemned it then as “racist, offensive and hurtful.”
Ole Miss officials sent out a statement to students and faculty Wednesday notifying them that Jordan Samson is withdrawing from classes but will work on “restorative justice activities” with the university’s William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation.
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Brandi Hephner LaBanc says the post “may have been protected expression,” but Samson wants to take responsibility.
The university released an apology from Samson on Wednesday. He says he’s deeply sorry for the “lapse of judgment” and doesn’t want the post to define him.
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This story has been corrected to reflect that the name is William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, not William Winter Center for Racial Reconciliation.
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