On Friday, UCLA Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Janina Montero explained that Alexandra Wallace’s video rant on Asians in the Library did not violate the Student Code of Conduct, and the university does not punish free speech. The Vice Chancellor issued the following statement, “As a public university, UCLA protects free expression. While I and most on campus were appalled by the sentiments expressed in a recent YouTube video, we have uncovered no facts that lead us to believe that the Student Code of Conduct was violated. We have no intention of pursuing a disciplinary matter.”
After the UCLA announcement, Alexandra Wallace issued a statement of her own to the Daily Bruin.
In an attempt to produce a humorous YouTube video, I have offended the UCLA community and the entire Asian culture. I am truly sorry for the hurtful words I said and the pain it caused to anyone who watched the video. Especially in the wake of the ongoing disaster in Japan, I would do anything to take back my insensitive words. I could write apology letters all day and night, but I know they wouldn’t erase the video from your memory, nor would they act to reverse my inappropriate action.
I made a mistake. My mistake, however, has lead to the harassment of my family, the publishing of my personal information, death threats, and being ostracized from an entire community. Accordingly, for personal safety reasons, I have chosen to no longer attend classes at UCLA.
Meanwhile, the Sacramento Bee ran a story about John Wallace, Alexandra’s dad. On his facebook page on Friday morning, he posted:
My daughter wants to start a blog.
She’s asking for domain suggestions for ‘Asians on their cellphones in the library!’ She’s shooting videos as I write.
Something is seriously wrong with this family if the father doesn’t see anything wrong with this and she’s shooting more videos. WTF??? When will her 15 minute be up? Take a look at what the Asian American community thinks of her video.
Alexandra Wallace leaves UCLA
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One thing I noticed about the ABC clip is that no Asians were interviewed–or at least shown commenting on the issue. I find that very lacking on the part of the news team involved in putting together the clip. =/
Agreed with Gina. Way to be inclusive, guys!
In all seriousness, though, I still can’t condone the actions done to Ms. Wallace. It seriously sucks to have to leave UCLA for something like this; honestly, I don’t care if something’s wrong with her family, but she did publicly apologize, and that’s more than I can say for most people.
Of course she had to apologize. Whether she means it, and whether she truly understands WHY people were outraged, is another question. I would bet that all this has taught her is that she shouldn’t spew her hatred and stupidity publicly, but keep it quiet.
http://schemamag.ca
Look, I don’t know what’s in this young woman’s heart. Her comments, though thoughtless and stupid, were met with obscenities, harassment, and death threats. She did apologize for her actions, and, given the circumstances, that should be enough. Unfortunately, we live in a too politically-correct society which, quite frankly ,goes too far at times.