LSE forced to apologise over 'racist' Kung Fu Panda email

A leading university has been accused of “racial stereotyping” after addressing new students as "Kung-Fu Pandas" in an email.

Hundreds of students due to enrol at the London School of Economics later this month were sent the message after an error in the university's email system.

The message said: “This is to certify that A-a [sic] Kung Fu Panda Tiger Test Test has firmly accepted an unconditional offer of admission to the London School of Economics and Political Science for the full-time, three year programme of undergraduate study.”

Several minutes after the gaffe LSE responded with an apology email stating the mistake was a test-record - but no mention was made to the Kung-Fu Panda comment.

LSE's student population is 30 per cent Asian - and the university faced accusations of racism after the message was sent out.

One undergraduate told The Tab he was “worried by the flagrant racial stereotyping which LSE have seemingly refused to apologise for in their vague-follow up email”.

Christy Pang said: “I thought it was some kind of racist joke at first, but it turned out to be some sort of test.”

However some students saw the funny side and joked on the LSE Facebook group about the poor grammar used.

A spokeswoman for LSE explained it was a test email sent in error and did not intend to target students from any background.