NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Lipscomb University is embroiled in controversy after the school’s president invited minority students to dinner at his home and they were “highly offended” by the menu and decorations.

President Randy Lowry invited several black students to his home last week to discuss their experiences on campus, and the students were greeted with a centerpiece that included stalks of cotton. The menu: greens, corn bread, macaroni and cheese, and pork barbecue, Inside Higher Ed reports.

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The day prior, Latino students were invited to Lowry’s home, where they dined on fajitas, according to The Tennessean.

Some of the black students at the dinner later complained on social media about the centerpiece and meal choices, alleging they were racist and insensitive. One student shared photos of the cotton centerpiece because she was “very offended,” and complained that the meal “resembled many black meals,” the Daily Mail reports.

The student alleged that when they pointed out the allegedly racist cotton centerpiece to Lowry, he responded that it “wasn’t inherently bad if we’re all wearing it.”

On Friday, Lowry apologized for the cotton centerpiece and meal selection, though he noted that he did not intend to offend anyone.

“Last night we invited Lipscomb African American students to our home for dinner to discuss their experiences at Lipscomb. Several students shared with me their concern about the material used for centerpieces which contained stalks of cotton,” he wrote in a statement sent out via email.

“The content of the centerpieces was offensive, and I could have handled the situation with more sensitivity. I sincerely apologize for the discomfort, anger or disappointment we caused and solicit your forgiveness,” he continued. “I have heard from a number of students who would like to spend more time together engaging in conversation. I am most pleased to do so either in small groups or individually.”

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The apology, however, apparently wasn’t enough.

“There were other problems that occurred at the dinner that are not mentioned in this ‘apology’. We came to his house after being told that we would get to share our experiences as a black student and to have a question and answer session with President Lowry,” a student wrote on Facebook, according to the Daily Mail.

The continued criticism prompted Lowry to apologize again on Monday, when he provided a more detailed explanation for the centerpieces and meal selection.

“We have many, many events at our house, and we’re in Nashville, Tenn., so you know, kind of Southern comfort food is served a lot at the university, at most restaurants in Nashville, and we serve it in our home,” Lowry told Inside Higher Ed. “We actually had the very same caterer and the very same dinner a week before for my mother-in-law’s birthday. So it’s hard with students, because some want their comfort food and some want something completely different from their comfort food, and so when dealing, again, with a very diverse student body, it’s hard to please everyone.

“But frankly, we rotate lots of menus, as does our cafeteria, as we do with special events on campus,” he said. “And I’m very sorry if anyone was offended by that, but there was absolutely no intention to set up a menu that would in any way make a statement. It was just one of the options for a good dinner.”

He also pointed out that since he came to the college in 2005, the percentage of minority students has steadily increased from 4 percent to 23 percent this year. He said the meals served to students included many items other than the typical black soul food, such as cookies and brownies, and no students complained about the food while at his home.

“It wasn’t exactly corn bread and mac and cheese,” he said. “It was two or three different meats, and it was cookies and brownies. It was a lot of different things. It was a very generous buffet, but we just kind of rotate.”

Regardless, he repeatedly apologized for both the centerpieces and the meals, and vowed to press forward with addressing the concerns of minority students on campus.

“I don’t want to make light of the interpretation of” the centerpieces, Lowry said. “Those students that were concerned were sincerely and deeply concerned, and I was sincere and deeply apologetic that we had offended them.”

“When we go forward, we will continue to try to be concerned,” he said. “We missed on this one, and I thought the appropriate thing to do was apologize for that miss, and I hope forgiveness can be granted and we, frankly, can get everybody focused on some of the much more profound things — and that’s taking hundreds of young people who may not have had a chance for an education and absolutely changing their futures.”