Houston's Museum of Natural Science apologizes for questionable email subject line

The Museum of Natural Science has issued an apology for an email subject line. Burke Baker Planetarium at The Houston Museum of Natural Science. (Photo by: MyLoupe/UIG via Getty Images) >>> Scroll through for a peek inside the Museum of Natural Science's warehouse. less The Museum of Natural Science has issued an apology for an email subject line. Burke Baker Planetarium at The Houston Museum of Natural Science. (Photo by: MyLoupe/UIG via Getty Images) >>> Scroll ... more Photo: MyLoupe/UIG Via Getty Images Photo: MyLoupe/UIG Via Getty Images Image 1 of / 26 Caption Close Houston's Museum of Natural Science apologizes for questionable email subject line 1 / 26 Back to Gallery

Houston's Museum of Natural Science (HMNS) has issued a public apology after distributing an an issue of its bi-weekly electronic newsletter with what many would consider a racially offensive term.

Thursday morning, when community and museum members checked their email accounts, they had an email from the museum with the subject line "Party with Spooks."

While the word "spook" is a synonym for the word "ghost," it's also a derogatory slur for a person of African descent.

HMNS president Joel Bartsch tells the Houston Chronicle, this is a case of the former.

"It's a tie to our annual Halloween party, which we've been doing for 10 years. The word was meant to be a rift on the word spooky. That was the intention."

RELATED: Peek inside the Houston Museum of Natural Science archives

Bartsch adds that his employees noticed the subject line of the email blast directly after it was sent, and acted swiftly to address it.

"Internal eyes noticed the subject line directly after it was sent. We immediately followed it up with an explanation," Bartsch notes.

The explanation reads:

"HMNS is committed to diversity and inclusion. We deeply regret that the subject line in this newsletter included a word with an offensive connotation, and sincerely apologize to everyone who received it. We are revisiting our internal policies and editorial review procedures to ensure this does not happen again."

Bartsch adds, "I am grateful to my staff for catching it, although slightly late, so that we could address it internally and before anyone responded."

RELATED: Zen and the art of fossil digging at the Houston Museum of Natural Science

Marcy de Luna is a digital reporter specializing in social media, the famous, and food. You can follow her on Twitter @MarcydeLuna. Read her stories on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com. | Marcy.deLuna@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message