Des Moines Area Community College school president Rob Denson said nearly 10,000 copies of the student handbook were handed out with a typo reading "Black History Linch and Learn," The Des Moines (Iowa) Register said Thursday.

The "Linch" typo, which was supposed to read "Lunch," appears to reference the illicit practice of lynching and the typo unfortunately came attached to a reference to a minority group, Denson said.

"There's no question in my mind that it was inadvertent," the school president said of the typo.

While school officials have issued an apology for the mistake, some students say they could see how the error could be misconstrued.

"I can see where people would be offended by it," 18-year-old college student Matt Brubaker told the Register, adding he suspects "Linch" was just a mistake.