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Lipscomb University president, Randy Lowry has apologized after hosting a dinner for African-American students that included cotton blooms as table centerpieces. Lowry invited the students to his home for dinner on Thursday to discuss their experiences at the Nashville school, but really created a situation that hopefully was a teachable moment for university leaders. There were apparent missteps in other minority dinner opportunities as well. In a previous dinner for Latino students, tacos and fajitas were on the menu. Following suit the African-American students were served collard greens, cornbread and ribs.
Lowry apologized to the Lipscomb community the next day on Facebook, admitting the cotton centerpieces were offensive and that he could have handled the situation with more sensitivity saying, “I sincerely apologize for the discomfort, anger or disappointment we caused and solicit your forgiveness.”
