Samford University officials are apologizing for a racist T-shirt created by a sorority at the school.
The shirt showing a black man eating a watermelon among other scenes on an Alabama state map was produced for the Alpha Delta Pi sorority spring formal, according to AL.com.
The university said the design was submitted and rejected by school officials, however the sorority printed them anyway, according to AL.com.
"I was repulsed by the image," Samford President Andrew Westmoreland wrote in an email to students and employees, according to AL.com. "I lack the words to express my own sense of frustration. I am certain that you will receive apologies from those who were responsible for creating the shirt, but I want you to know now of my personal apology for the fact that it happened."
An apology to the community pic.twitter.com/Cb8OgS4NKf
— Samford Student Life (@SU_StudentLife) May 13, 2016
The Alpha Delta Pi governing body says it does not approve of the racist image.
"The sorority doesn't tolerate, and would never intentionally approve a design with racial stereotypes/overtones or any other offensive images or language," Stacy Bruton, Alpha Delta Pi, international president, told AL.com. "This situation highlights for all our chapters the importance of attention to detail. We are working on proposed enhancements to our chapters' design approval processes to prevent this kind of oversight from ever happening again, and hope that this will serve as a learning opportunity for all our members."
Cox Media Group
