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Vanderbilt University investigating racist emails

FILE - This Sept. 30, 2003, file photo, shows the exterior of a dormitory at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., is inscribed with the name Confederate Memorial Hall. The private university announced on Monday, Aug. 15, 2016, that it has struck an agreement to pay $1.2 million to United Daughters of the Confederacy to remove the name from the building. (AP Photo/The Tennessean, Ricky Rogers, File)
FILE - This Sept. 30, 2003, file photo, shows the exterior of a dormitory at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., is inscribed with the name Confederate Memorial Hall. The private university announced on Monday, Aug. 15, 2016, that it has struck an agreement to pay $1.2 million to United Daughters of the Confederacy to remove the name from the building. (AP Photo/The Tennessean, Ricky Rogers, File) FILE - This Sept. 30, 2003, file photo, shows the exterior of a dormitory at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., is inscribed with the name Confederate Memorial Hall. The private university announced on Monday, Aug. 15, 2016, that it has struck an agreement to pay $1.2 million to United Daughters of the Confederacy to remove the name from the building. (AP Photo/The Tennessean, Ricky Rogers, File)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Vanderbilt University is investigating a racist message that was sent to e-mail lists of students, faculty and staff.

The university’s NAACP chapter complained in a tweet about Monday evening’s e-mail blast. The university tweeted early Tuesday that the “deeply disturbing” email, “containing racist language and promoted white supremacy,” did not come from an official Vanderbilt account.

Officials say Vanderbilt’s technology department is trying to find the source. They recommended recipients delete the email without responding to it.

The university says “the fact that the communication was NOT an official Vanderbilt University email or correspondence does not diminish the pain that it has caused.”