An Alabama university apologized publicly on Friday after discovering offensive T-shirts had been printed by a sorority, which said members initially failed to notice the racist illustration.

The T-shirts depicted a map of Alabama marked with an array of images — including an illustration of a black man holding a slice of watermelon to his mouth in the map's southeast corner.

'I was repulsed by the image,' Samford University President Andy Westmoreland said in an email to students and employees. 'I lack the words to express my own sense of frustration.'

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Samford University in Alabama apologized publicly on Friday after discovering T-shirts depicting a black man eating watermelon (pictured) had been printed by the Alpha Delta Pi chapter at Samford

Above a post appeared on Facebook with the images and a note saying the shirts also show slaves picking cotton and described the images as 'distasteful, disgraceful and most importantly racist'

University spokesman Philip Poole said the shirts were ordered as keepsakes for the spring formal of the Alpha Delta Pi chapter at Samford.

'In selecting the T-shirt, we failed to focus on the specific images in the design,' Lauren Hammond, president of the sorority's Samford chapter, said in a statement issued through its national headquarters on Friday.

'We are horrified by our oversight. Had we recognized what the design details depicted, we would never have purchased the shirts.'

Administrators are conducting a review that could lead to disciplinary action against the sorority at Samford - where the embarrassing disclosure came as students and faculty were celebrating graduations at the Birmingham campus on Friday.

Hammond said sorority members have been told not to wear the shirts, which she said were being collected so they could be destroyed.

SAMFORD UNIVERSITY APOLOGIZES AFTER OFFENSIVE IMAGE APPEARS ON T-SHIRTS PRODUCED BY ALPHA DELTA PI SORORITY University spokesman Philip Poole's statement in full: 'Samford University apologizes for the offensive image that appeared on T-shirts produced by the Kappa chapter of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority. 'This is completely inconsistent with the university's mission and values. 'We are addressing the issue with our Alpha Delta Pi chapter and the international organization and with the vendor who produced the shirt. 'Despite the university's denial of the project through our normal review and approval process, the shirts were produced anyway. 'We will be following our procedures as quickly as possible to address this violation of Samford's values community.' Source: WIAT Advertisement

Karina Shaver, who identified herself in an email as a media representative for Alpha Delta Pi, said chapter members originally found the map image using a Google search.

Poole said an employee of the campus Greek Life office found out the shirts had been delivered and alerted administrators on Thursday afternoon.

In a statement apologizing for the shirts, Samford officials said the sorority ordered the offending T-shirts even after their design had been rejected when it was submitted to the university for approval.

'The shirt design absolutely contradicts the values of respect and dignity that our organization prides itself on,' said a statement from Alpha Delta Pi's national headquarters.

'We do not tolerate, and would never intentionally approve any design with racial stereotypes/overtones or any other offensive images or language.'