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The attorney representing a white college student has accused the University of Tennessee of 'caving in to hysteria' after she was kicked out over a video shared by her black high school classmate showing her using a racial slur when she was 15.
Speaking to Fox News on Monday, Mimi Groves' lawyer Shan Wu said that the school made a 'rush to judgement' after the video of Groves looking into the camera saying ‘I can drive, n*****s’ as she was sitting in traffic went viral.
Groves was 15 years old and a high school freshman at the time of making the video in 2016, but it resurfaced this year when her black high school classmate Jimmy Galligan, of Leesburg - who had received the video at the time - posted it publicly.
Groves, a championship-winning cheerleader, was planning to attend the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, whose cheer team were reigning national champions. She was accepted into the team in May.
'Mimi was a kid when she did this,' Wu told Fox News. 'She's appalled, and having said that, she's not trying to excuse [her actions] in any way.
'What she lost was her dream. Like many athletes, she had worked most of her young adult life for a shot at going to a great school and being on their team. That was taken away from her in what can only be described as a rush to judgement.'
Wu added that he felt the 'University of Tennessee caved in - in a panic, to a lot of hysteria, a lot of social media going on - and they didn't give her a meaningful investigation - which would have revealed that this happened years ago, and would have revealed the context of it.'
In a statement given to Fox News, Groves said: 'I'm not perfect. What I said several years ago as an adolescant, in a short 3 second clip was wrong, irresponsible, degrading and I take full responsibility for my actions - and will continue to learn and understand the history and true meaning of that word.
'I hope others learn from mistake and understand that words can hurt deeply, and it's never OK to say a racial slur to anyone,' she added, before saying she would never try to justify what she said, but that people change as they grow.'
Galligan - A Virginia student says he has no regrets about sharing a video online of his white high school classmate using a racial slur that forced her to withdraw from her dream college.
He revealed to the New York Times how he had been in history class at Heritage High School last year when he received a text from a friend which included a video of classmate Groves using a racial epithet.
The three-second clip, sent by Groves to a friend on Snapchat in 2016, showed the then-15-year-old freshman looking into the camera saying ‘I can drive, n*****s’ as she was sitting in traffic.
Galligan said he had flagged the clip to teachers and administrators but his complaints reportedly yielded no response.
Frustrated and angry, Galligan said he decided to hold onto the video until he thought it was the right time to post it publicly. He posted it in June this year.
‘I wanted to get her where she would understand the severity of that word,’ 18-year-old Galligan, whose mother is black and father is white, told the Times.
‘If I never posted that video, nothing would have ever happened. I’m going to remind myself, you started something,’ he continued. ‘You taught someone a lesson.’
