DECATUR, Ga. — Emory University is apologizing after a decades-old picture surfaced of offensive and racist images inside of the school’s yearbooks.
In a letter sent out Wednesday the university’s president, Claire E. Sterk, said the pictures were found after an initial review of the yearbooks.
Sterk said in the letter that, “as one of our nation’s great academic institutions, Emory must always stand for equality, inclusion, and respect. I find it difficult to comprehend the mindset of anyone who would engage in such activities.”
The president says he will not remove the offensive and racist images in the yearbooks, which can be found online.
“It is my fervent hope that they will serve as an indelible reminder to all current and future Emory students, faculty, and staff of the type of ignorance and hate we must passionately oppose,” Sterk stated.
11Alive discovered a picture from 1959 of person depicted in black face from a yearbook. The names of the people in the picture are unknown.
The school says it’s launching a university-wide legacy commission to assess the problem.
Emory plans to have an update on this new commission in the spring.
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