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'Shockingly abhorrent' | EVMS officials on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's racist yearbook photo

President of Eastern Virginia Medical School hires former Va. attorney general to investigate how racist photos came to be published in EVMC yearbooks following Northam controversy.

WASHINGTON — Eastern Virginia Medical School discussed the investigation into how a "shockingly abhorrent" racist photo made it into a 1984 student yearbook and has led for calls for Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam to resign when it surfaced Friday.

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"The board, like our senior management team, is committed to discovering quickly how unacceptable photos such as these came to be published in the past. Further, we are committed to ensuring that our existing culture is one that would never tolerate such actions today," EVMS President Richard V. Homan said in a statement.

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The EVMS yearbook features a photo of a person in blackface and another person in a Ku Klux Klan outfit under Northam's name.

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Northam issued an apology Friday for the picture. Although he acknowledged he was in the picture, on Saturday Northam said he was not in the picture.

Homan issued a statement Saturday to apologize for the photo, and he promised to build a culture of diversity and inclusion.

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Homan added he had no explanation for how that type of picture was able to be published in the past.

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