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A university has been forced to apologise after collard greens, ribs, corn bread, and watermelon-flavoured water were put on the menu for a Black History Month meal.

Nia Harris, a student at New York University, slammed the "racially insensitive" menu in a social media post beginning: "This is what it's like to be a black student at New York University."

"You go to a dining hall during February and you see 'Black History Month Meal' plastered outside the entrance," she wrote.

"You walk inside the dining hall only to find ribs, collard greens, and mac and cheese.

"You note that this is stereotypical, but you decide not to make a big deal."

She added: "Then you see the beverages, Red Koolaid and watermelon water."

Ms Harris added that when she asked to speak to the head chef about the menu, he said the meal items had been suggested by black cooks.

She concluded: "It breaks my heart that at this allegedly 'diverse' and 'global' institution, black students are faced with issues like this one."

Stunned students offered their support, with one writing: "This is insane."

Another wrote: "It's not the only school that's done it, other schools are even putting out grape Kool-aid! Unbelievable."

NYU president Andrew Hamilton said in a statement the university was "shocked" to learn of the "inexcusably insensitive" menu offered by third party caterer Aramark.

"That error was compounded by the insensitivity of the replies made to a student who asked Aramark staff on site how the choices were made," he said.

"The drink and food choices for this meal were not discussed with NYU beforehand," he added.

​Aramark has suspended the director for dining at the Weinstein hall where the incident took place.‘

Victoria Pasquale, regional vice president of Aramark, said in a statement: "We apologise for an inexcusable menu mistake that occurred at Downstein.

"We are extremely disappointed by the insensitive and offensive actions taken by one of our employees who did not follow policy and processes.

"The individual acted independently in a way that runs counter to our values and compromised our longstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion.

"We have suspended the employee pending a full investigation. We are also re-training all employees to ensure a regrettable incident like this is not repeated."