New York University (NYU) has issued a public apology for insensitive food choices offered by one of its dining halls for Black History Month.

"We were shocked to learn of the drink and food choices that our food service provider -- Aramark -- offered at the Weinstein dining hall as part of Black History Month. It was inexcusably insensitive," said NYU President Andrew Hamilton in a statement late Wednesday.

Earlier this week, the dining hall at the university's Washington Square campus served food and beverages associated with racial stereotypes, including watermelon-flavored water and red Kool-Aid.

The incident was first called attention by the 19-year-old NYU sophomore Nia Harris on Tuesday.

"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. You walk inside the dining hall only to find ribs, collard greens, and mac and cheese," Harris wrote in a Facebook post that included an image of the email she sent to dining services.

Hamilton said that the menu, put together by the food services provider Aramark, was not discussed with NYU beforehand.

Aramark also apologized for the "inexcusable menu mistake" and has fired two employees that made the menu decisions.

"The individual acted independently in a way that runs counter to our values and compromised our longstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion," Aramark Regional Vice President Victoria Pasquale said in a statement. "We are also re-training all employees to ensure a regrettable incident like this is not repeated."

Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of blacks in U.S. history. Since 1976, the U.S. government has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. 

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