University of Alabama students condemned on Twitter after posting controversial Hurricane Katrina image

Katrina wreaked havoc across south-eastern parts of the US in August 2005, claiming around 1,830 lives

(@OldRowOfficial/Twitter)

A group of students has come under fire online after posting a controversial picture on Twitter which seemed to make fun of one of the deadliest storms in the history of America.

The group at the University of Alabama (UA) in the US hung a banner in the run up to a football game against rival institution Louisiana State University (LSU), urging the home team to ‘finish what Katrina started’.

Hurricane Katrina devastated the south-eastern part of the US in August 2005, claiming around 1,830 lives and became known as the costliest natural disaster ever to occur in the country.

After the image of the banner was brought to the attention of the university, staff took took the official UA Twitter account to condemn the act, saying it was ‘appalled’ at the ‘inappropriate and offensive statement’:

The tweet was posted by a group known as Old Row which, according to its website, displays ‘southern tradition at its finest’ by posting Snapchat images and videos submitted by its Twitter followers. Neither the university or Old Row identified which fraternity house, if any, displayed the banner.

Unsurprisingly, the image did not go down well on social media, leading to Twitter users condemning the banner:

After more anti-LSU banners began to appear around the campus, vice president of student affairs at UA, David Grady, issued a statement online, urging students to welcome visitors to the city with ‘respect’:

According to The Huffington Post, a UA spokesman said in a statement: “It has not been determined who hung the banner at an off-campus apartment complex.” He also added that, any student who violated the school’s code of conduct could face disciplinary action, regardless of whether the violation were to take place either on or off campus.

This incident has occurred just months after another fraternity group, this time at the Old Dominion University in Virginia, came under fire for hanging ‘derogatory and demeaning’ banners about new female students arriving for the start of the new academic year.