Alumni of a southern California school district are speaking out after a group of high schoolers spelled out a racial slur with lettered t-shirts and taking a photo of it at a senior picnic.

According to KGTV, seniors were allowed to wear white shirts with letters on them so they could spell out words with their friends in photos at Escondido High School’s senior picnic on Thursday. The words must be pre-approved by school officials, but nine students went rogue, spelling out the n-word in a photo that was not a part of the traditional photo shoot for the yearbook.  

 The photo was posted to social media where it was widely shared, and former Escondido High students are now speaking out.

“Whether it was malicious or not, I don’t think that matters,” Cade Pannell, a 2017 graduate,  told KGTV. “Whether they thought it was a joke, it’s not and if you do think it’s a joke, I think that’s very ignorant of you.”

Jovan Pete, another 2017 graduate, worries how the photo will affect the school’s reputation.

“[People] just look at that and assume that’s how it is there,” he said. “Just racist kids there or obnoxious kids who don’t know right from wrong.”

In a statement, Escondido High School Principal Adriana Lepe-Ramirez said the district is working with students to make sure an incident like this doesn’t happen again.

“We are a campus that prides itself on inclusion and embraces diversity. We will not tolerate actions that send messages of racism and promote divisiveness. We will work with students, as well as staff, to ensure a respectful and safe environment is maintained throughout our campus.”