Louisville University President Sorry for ‘Offensive’ Sombrero Photo

The University of Louisville apologized Thursday after a photo of its President and other staff members donning sombreros and fake mustaches appeared online on Wednesday.

The Louisville Courier-Journal posted the photo in a gallery about the mansion that University President James Ramsey uses for events. Staff who had gathered at the house for a party posed for a photograph along with Ramsey, who wore a colorful poncho in the front. A University spokesman noted the clothing was “considered offensive” to some.

“We made a mistake and are very sorry,” the president’s chief of staff said in a statement, which also said Ramsey’s office communicated its regret to the University’s Office of Hispanic and Latino Initiatives directly.

“We’re human beings, we’re not costumes,” Sarah Nuñez, the University director of the Office of Hispanic and Latino Initiatives, told the Courier-Journal.

[Louisville Courier-Journal]