© 2026 ABC News

In an interview with Boston ABC affiliate WCVB, Kanoute said she felt she needed to speak up.

\"PHOTO:
WCVB
PHOTO: Oumou Kanoute wipes away a tear while talking to a reporter about an incident where a person called campus police to report her for looking out of place at Smith College in Northampton, Mass.
>

“If you see the video, I was really calm, but on the inside I wasn’t calm. I was terrified,” Kanoute told WCVB.

A transcript of the 911 call was also released by campus police, in which the caller, whose name is redacted. The transcript provided alternates between \"her\" and \"he.\"

\"I was just walking through here in the front foyer of [REDACTED] and we have a person sitting there laying down in the living room area over here,\" the caller tells the dispatcher. \"I didn’t approach her or anything but um he seems to be out of place. … Umm … I don’t see anybody in the building at this point and uh I don’t know what he’s doing in there just laying on the couch.\"

According to Kanoute, several of her friends at Smith College have had experiences similar to hers. \"To all the people who are students of color at other predominantly white institutions just know that you belong, you worked your butt off to get in and don't let anyone take that experience away from you or bring you down.\"

Kathleen McCartney, president of Smith College, addressed the incident and publicly apologized to Kanoute.

\"PHOTO:
WCVB
PHOTO: Oumou Kanoute is working as a teaching assistant and residential adviser at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., for the summer.
>

“I begin by offering the student involved my deepest apology that this incident occurred and to assure her that she belongs in all Smith spaces,” McCartney wrote in a letter to the college. \"This painful incident reminds us of the ongoing legacy of racism and bias in which people of color are targeted while simply going about the business of their daily lives.\"

In response to the incident all staff members at the college will be required to participate in anti-bias training beginning this fall, McCartney wrote.

\"VIDEO:
WCVB
VIDEO: The president of Smith College says an investigation will be conducted to review the incident.
>

\"We are committed to timely and transparent communication throughout this investigation, and will send further updates to the community as soon as they are available,\" said Amy Hunter, Smith College's interim director of Inclusion, Diversity and Equity.

The college said Sanghavi Law Office in Brookline, Massachusetts, would be conducting the investigation.

No police report was filed in the incident, as the officer found the complaint to be unfounded.

ABC News' Will Gretsky contributed to this report.

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