Alabama sorority caught using 'abhorrent' racist caricature -- after college said not to

The president of Samford University in Alabama blasted one of its sororities on Friday after the group was caught using a racist image on a t-shirt despite the design being rejected by school officials, WBRC-TV reported.

"I think that I do not need to say that this is a violation of our core principles at Samford, but I will state it anyway: this is an abhorrent, disrespectful expression that is completely inconsistent with our core principles," Andrew Westmoreland said in an email sent to students and faculty.

The shirt, which depicts a map of Alabama and black people eating watermelon and picking cotton, was made by the Kappa chapter of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority in conjunction with its spring formal event.

School officials said in a separate statement that the shirts were made in spite of the fact that university officials rejected the design during what it called "our normal review and approval process."

According to Jezebel, however, images of the shirt surfaced online on Thursday, as seen below:

Westmoreland said in his letter that the university has already contacted both Alpha Delta Pi's international office and leaders with the Kappa chapter.

"Our values process will determine any possible actions taken regarding the chapter or any individuals involved in the design of the shirt," he wrote.

The sorority -- the first such group for women founded in the US -- has 155 chapters in colleges throughout the US and Canada.