A university president has apologized after hosting a dinner for African-American students that included cotton stalks as table centerpieces.
Randy Lowry, the president of Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, invited the students to his home for dinner on Thursday to discuss their experiences at the school.
What transpired will hopefully be a teachable moment for university leaders moving forward.
Deion Sims, a student who attended the dinner at Lowryâs home, was taken aback by aspects of the event he considered tone-deaf.
âI think the most offensive thing was the cotton centerpieces,â he told local station WKRN TV.
The menu also left a bad taste in studentsâ mouths, as it seemed to pander to stereotypes of what is considered African-American cuisine.
âAt the dinner, we had heard previously from Latino students [that they were served] fajitas and then when we got there, it was collard greens, cornbread and ribs and such,â Sims said.
Sims, a pre-med senior, doesnât think Lowry was trying to offend students on purpose.
âI donât think Dr. Lowry was intentional or malicious in the cotton centerpieces,â he said. âI think it points to a larger culture gap at this institution and that points to some changes that need to be made.â
A student who identified herself as âNakaylayvonneâ on Instagram wasnât as forgiving. She posted a photo of the cotton centerpieces and said they werenât on the table for the Latino studentsâ dinner.
She also said she attempted to explain to Lowry why the choice of table decorations could be considered insensitive to people of color. He responded that he âdidnât knowâ and thought it was âfallish.â
âTHEN he said âit ISNT INHERENTLY BAD IF WERE ALL WEARING ITâ then walked off,â she wrote.
The student also claimed that while the meeting was ostensibly so university leaders could learn about the experiences of black students to better help them succeed, the president and his wife didnât really steer the conversation in that direction.
Representatives for Lipscomb could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Lowry apologized to the Lipscomb community the next day on Facebook, admitting the cotton centerpieces were offensive.
He added that he âcould have handled the situation with more sensitivity.
âI sincerely apologize for the discomfort, anger or disappointment we caused and solicit your forgiveness,â he wrote.
Lowry later told WKRN TV that looking back, he could have handled things differently.
âCotton is rather neutral. God created it for all of us,â Lowry said. âThe use of it there was offensive when one puts it in the context of the history they were thinking about. Because of that, I apologized the next day.â
He also said he intended no malice by the choice of menu and claimed he had served it at his mother-in-lawâs birthday a week earlier.