Hermon Raju, 'Well Educated' Viral Sensation, Speaks Out

Let this be a lesson the next time you feel like you want to lose your cool in public; someone is likely watching you, waiting with their phone in hand and ready to videotape your complete and total meltdown.

It's a lesson Hermon Raju is wishing she didn't have to learn. Last month Raju became a viral Internet sensation -- and not the good kind -- after a video of her verbally assaulting a Metro North employee hit the web.

Now, the New York Daily News reports that Raju has been reaching out to crisis-management PR experts to repair her sullied reputation

The NYDN obtained a letter that Raju allegedly sent to one firm explaining that the public only saw two minutes of the argument, but that there was more to the story.

"I can honestly say I feel raped by the Internet," she complained, after claiming that she initially was advised "not to speak to the media" about the incident.

Not the best choice of analogy for someone who has degrees in Communications and Marketing, according to her LinkedIn profile.

The NYU graduate deleted her social profiles across the Internet, but a Google search of her name leads only to reports on the Metro North incident.

Commenters on the website Random Tandem who claim to know or have met Raju have weighed in on the video, expressing their dislike for her, and Dealbreaker reports that the video may have cost Raju her job, as a spokesperson from BNP Paribas said Raju is no longer with the firm.

In the video Raju argued with the employee saying, "Excuse me? Do you know what schools I've been to and how well educated I am?" When things became slightly physical she was told to get off the train and shouted, "I'm not a crazy person. I AM A VERY WELL EDUCATED PERSON."

The original video was removed from YouTube, to see the video head over to Gawker.

Comments

[iGlad]

07:24 AM on 07/25/2011

After watching the video she deserves everything she gets karma can be a b* tch!!

[Rouvey]

08:58 PM on 07/22/2011

Cee yoU Next Tuesday = Raju

[Exotic Particle]

10:30 AM on 07/22/2011

Here is what the video shows: a black woman, who could be a working class or lower-middle class transit employee, arguing with what appears to be a South Asian woman, who could be a middle class or upper-middle class passenger.

Metro North is used mostly by upper-middle class residents of the wealthy Westchester county suburbs (you know, where the Clintons live?) to commute to high paying jobs in Manhattan.

It's not a stretch to argue the passenger could have been of a different social class than the transit employee, and that this, either consciously or subconsciously, characterized the nature of the conflict.

It's not a stretch to imagine the transit employee might, just might, be a little impatient with people she sees as unfairly entitled and arrogant.

South Asians, like Raju, constantly deal with the "over educated" "upwardly mobile" stereotype projected upon them by others, some of whom might be other people-of-color who are frustrated and resentful.

It's clear on the tape the transit employee is enjoying herself. Playing a game of cat-and-mouse. Enjoying getting a rise out of the passenger, manipulating her indignance.

The transit employee is not innocent in this exhange. She willfully exploited the naive passenger - who, I agree, should have known better.

But if you're a transit employee, and you're going to argue with every annoying passenger on Metro North, you're going to end up being very stressed. Why bother?

[Rouvey]

10:46 AM on 07/22/2011

Your over analyzing...I just see two cranky beyotches having a cat fight on a hot day!

[Rouvey]

08:02 PM on 07/22/2011

and BTW, the transit worker appeared quite calm.

You can be sure that when a sister wants to go off and bomb someone out, it wouldn't have gone down the way it did...weaves would have been flying....

[shpamme]

02:55 AM on 07/22/2011

i'm an indian girl with two doctorates (law and med) AND a masters, and i can tell you firsthand that degrees are just letters after your name.. what matters is what you do with your education and what sort of legacy you leave in life. part of that legacy involves treating everyone you encounter with kindness and respect. for those who say it's because she's indian, she's not indian--she's indian-american. and i can vouch that the vast majority of indian americans are raised with the notion that you MUST treat everyone with respect--it's rooted in many of our religions (hindu, sikh, jain, etc). what's more, many of our parents came here with literally $10 in their pockets--many were blue collar workers starting out, and while some pursued advanced education after emigrating, many continued to work hard as blue collar workers. to insult someone with less education is tantamount to insulting your own parents. forget about the internet consequences--before you decide to insult someone's station in life, think about this--that janitor who picks your trash up off the floor or wipes the pee spray you left on the toilet seat could be someone's mother or father, working hard to pay the bills. their hard work alone is worthy of your respect, regardless of your education level.

[iGlad]

07:16 AM on 07/25/2011

This person makes a good point however not everyone practices that!

[Parade Keegan]

01:04 PM on 07/21/2011

Ho Hum, sounds like the public has it right about her, from her.

[Darreg]

10:31 PM on 07/20/2011

A Brown person thinking they are better than a Black person. Seen it more times than I can count. This ain't nothing new.

[MainFleisch]

09:39 PM on 07/20/2011

Does the writer seriously believe that this woman "verbally assaulted" the MTA employee who was totally baiting the passenger and deliberately perpetuating the conflict for her own sad satisfaction? The passenger - whose name none of us have any business knowing - surely lost her cool, but what adult doesn't get a little testy when reprimanded by a ticket-puncher for swearing?

[anothervoter]

08:19 PM on 07/20/2011

I guess her education escaped her at that moment.

Oh well.

[Tunghoy]

07:39 PM on 07/20/2011

Intelligence is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, not a vegetable. Wisdom is knowing not to include it in a fruit salad.

[tpondering]

12:37 PM on 07/20/2011

When grasping for a reason you should be treated with more respect, you might want to try "I am a customer", "I am a taxpayer", "I am a human being", "I am bigger than you". Nobody cares about your societal qualifications. I also love the "do you know who I am" argument when applied to situations where it doesn't matter. "I do know Mr. Rich/Powerful guy. I just don't give a crap". I will show you respect until you give me a reason not to.

[StarDagger]

11:33 AM on 07/20/2011

I think she was just nervous and was trying to explain that she wasn't some indigent uneducated person ;)

[jtj7292]

09:36 AM on 07/20/2011

People like this woman are the crusaders for the anti-intellectual movement in this country. Way to polarize people with your arrogance.

We all have bad days but never once have I shouted how educated I was at someone...

[altohone]

10:27 PM on 07/19/2011

Education is not wisdom.

[Nelle]

03:01 PM on 07/19/2011

It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice!

[Chelsea-Lyn Rudder]

03:55 PM on 07/19/2011

Hermon and I were classmates in graduate school at NYU. We are not close friends, but we did share a room on a ten-day educational trip to the Middle East in the spring of 2010. Based upon my experiences with her, Hermon is a polite and respectful young woman. Now, she’s being targeted as some sort of “entitlement” prototype, when in fact she is a human being who may have simply been having a bad day. An incident that might have been discussed amongst intimates and eventually forgotten will live on the Internet indefinitely because everyone has a camera and decency and descretion are almost non -existent.


Everyone has moments when they are not at their best, and that they would prefer to forget. So before you write something mean or sarcastic, think about how you would feel if someone video taped you and put it on YouTube for all the internet to stand in anonymous judgment of your character. The context of this video is unclear. But of course every commenter has taken the opportunity to tear into Hermon with impunity. The comments that have been made regarding this incident, say a lot more about the breakdown of civility and the pervasiveness of rude behavior in today’s society than anything that I observed in the video clip.

[Nelle]

04:38 PM on 07/19/2011

Thank you for pointing out that Hermon is a human being. I would have never realized that from seeing the clip. As to your other comments, you're right, we all have moments when we are not at our best, but when we make mistakes, we acknowledge our bad behavior and we apologize - we don't accuse the internet of "raping" us.

Also, I would like to know how my comment, "It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice!" is "tearing into" anyone? It's just the truth. A truth that would make the world a better place if we all lived by that maxim.

[addisonsteele]

05:58 PM on 07/19/2011

I am still baffled. How would her level of education be relevant to the initial incident? Unless there is a logical answer to that question, one can infer from her repeated comments about her education were intended to make her appear superior.

[Elizabeth Schwartz]

02:24 PM on 07/19/2011

Well educated and learned nothing.