Well, it's official. Alexandra Wallace, creator of the infamous "Asians in the Library" video, is withdrawing from UCLA, despite the university's decision not to discipline her. Basically, she's been driven out by the vicious fallout from her diatribe: Alexandra Wallace apologizes, announces she will no longer attend UCLA.In a statement to The Daily Bruin, Alexandra apologized and said that she had chosen to stop attending classes at UCLA because of "the harassment of my family, the publishing of my personal information, death threats and being ostracized from an entire community." Here's the statement:
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.Last week, the school announced that it would not take action against Alexandra, saying her video did not violate the Student Code of Conduct. I guess I can't disagree with this. While what she did was outrageously offensive, she was exercising free speech -- free speech that came with its own special set of consequences.
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.
Alexandra Wallace
Her views in the video are truly stupid. She's definitely not UCLA's brightest Bruin. But as I expressed numerous times, I did not condone threats or intimidation against Alexandra Wallace. Mocking, ridicule and even a little education thrown her way -- cool. But she should never have feared for her safety.
I'm actually a little bummed that she's leaving UCLA. I would have loved to see her continue her education -- in more than just political science -- and learn a thing or two about co-existing with fellow "Americans" -- yes, Asians -- in the UCLA community, having to make those walks of shame across campus while forever known as the "ching chong ling long ting tong" girl.
Judging from her statement, I'm not entirely sure she truly regrets the sentiments she expressed in the video, or if she just regrets having to deal with the unexpected vehement reaction. She did manage to make herself the most hated (and famous) UCLA student in less than a week.
Of course, it's obvious that Alexandra was gunning for attention. This seems especially true in light of recent revelations -- posted on her father's Facebook page -- that the video was just phase one of a "Asians on their cellphones in the library!" blog she was apparently starting. Well, if it's attention you wanted...
Good luck, Alexandra. See you in the library.