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NYU serves Kool-Aid, watermelon during Black History Month dinner

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NEW YORK (WPIX/CNN) - Students at New York University said they were stunned after seeing the menu for a Black History Month meal on campus which included several racial stereotypes.

Items like barbecue ribs, watermelon and Kool-Aid, were all featured on the menu at Weinstein dining hall Tuesday.

"I thought it would be very clear that red Kool-Aid and watermelon is a just a very stereotypical and racially tinged concept," said Kayla Eubanks, a sophomore at NYU.

Eubanks took one look at the menu and took action.

"I sent out an e-mail to the deans, to several student organizations and I was trying to just raise awareness," she said.

Word on campus spread quickly and so did outrage.

Tyla Leach, also student at the school, said many students were upset.

"It comes with stereotypes of poverty and things of that nature,"  Leach said. "It's just not an accurate way to celebrate the black students on this campus.”

Thursday their concerns were heard.

NYU President Andrew Hamilton said the menu was inexcusably insensitive in a statement to the Washington Square News.

The dining hall is managed by a contractor, Aramark.

Aramark apologized to NYU and told reporters that several employees acted on their own in planning the meal. The employees have since been fired.

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