Only in America

University of Louisville students protested the decision by university president James Ramsey to host a Halloween party with members of the university staff at Amelia Place, a mansion owned by the University of Louisville Foundation.

The University of Louisville apologized Thursday after President James Ramsey [lower right in the photo above] faced criticism for a photo in which he and other university staffers were depicted at a Halloween party wearing stereotypical Mexican costumes with sombreros, which a university spokesman said some had “considered offensive.” . . .

“We made a mistake and are very sorry,” Kathleen Smith, chief of staff to the president, said in a statement, which noted her office had met with a top official of U of L’s Office of Hispanic and Latino Initiatives and shared “our deep regret for the hurt this experience has caused.”. . .

As social media criticism grew, university officials released an apology Thursday evening, addressing it to “Hispanic/Latino Faculty, Staff and Students.”

“We commit to a series of campus conversations with students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members to further focus on diversity and racial equality issues underpinning the pluralistic society we all support. This event shows we have much more to learn about our community,” Smith said.

This is what we’ve come to in the United States: a university president hosting a party at which he encourages his guests to dress in costumes that mock Mexican-Americans, and an apology that presumes only Hispanics are offended? While one of the major political parties debates the best way to build a wall on the southern border and deport the 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.

Happy Halloween, everyone!