University of Alabama Expels Student Over Racist Videos

Screenshot from a video posted to Instagram on MLK Day (Image: Instagram)

A student who posted videos containing blatantly racist language has been expelled from the University of Alabama, according to multiple reports.

University President Stuart R. Bell called the videos “highly offensive and deeply hurtful,” and told the Associated Press that the student, Harley Barber, is “no longer enrolled here.”

Barber posted two videos to a “fake” Instagram account — which some people use to post thoughts and images they don’t want associated with their actual accounts — on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in which she repeatedly used the “n” word, claiming that since she was from New Jersey, she was entitled to use the word as much as she liked.

Barber was reportedly a member of Alpha Phi International sorority, whose national office issued a stinging criticism of the videos and confirmed that Barber is no longer a member of the organization.

The videos were shared on Twitter and provoked a stinging backlash from students, university officials and even head basketball coach Avery Johnson.

UA officials released a statement saying the comments are “ignorant and disturbing and in no way reflect the values of The University of Alabama.”

“I did something really, really bad,” she said in an interview with the New York Post. “I don’t know what to do and I feel horrible. I’m wrong and there’s just no excuse for what I did.”