New York University has apologized for the meal it served at a Black History Month event, saying that it was "inexcusably insensitive" to include foods that were linked to racial stereotypes on the menu.
The controversy came to light after the school's catering company, Aramark, created a special menu for the event that included Kool-Aid and watermelon-flavored water, The Hill reported.
The backlash was almost instant and was led by NYU sophomore Nia Harris, who demanded an explanation for the food choices in an email to university officials, The New York Times reported.
When her queries were sidelined by the catering company, Harris posted a screenshot of her email to Facebook and it was not long before it spread.
A day later the university president Andrew Hamilton responded with a statement in which he said it was shocking to learn of the food and beverage choices included in the menu.
"The drink and food choices for this meal were not discussed with NYU beforehand," he noted.
Meanwhile the Black Student Union at NYU had latched onto the ordeal and released a combined statement with several other organizations, calling for the school to make the "needs, concerns and desires of black students a priority."
Aramak has since fired two employees for allegedly contradicting company policies and not adhering to a pre-approved plan for the celebration of Black History Month.
"We are extremely disappointed by this regrettable situation and apologize to the entire NYU community and communities everywhere for their insensitive and offensive actions," the company said in a statement. "We are re-training all our NYU campus employees to ensure an incident like this is not repeated."
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