Hillsdale College president Larry Arnn sat before a subcommittee to discuss his school's lack of minorities, or "dark ones" as he called them, the Detroit Free Press reported.

The hearing was in regards to Michigan's adoption of the Common Core State Standards, which Arnn was opposed to. His remark was in reference to a report from the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) from 2000, toward the time Arnn began as president.

"[The MDE] said that we violated the standards for diversity because we didn't have enough dark ones, I guess is what they meant," he said in the hearing Wednesday.

Arnn received much scrutiny for the comment and for diverting the attention from the Common Core Standards. His comments came before addressing the standards and, when it came time for the lawmakers to ask questions, they mainly expressed distaste for his previous statement.

"You're the president of a college. I would expect better out of you," said Rep. David Knezek, D-Dearborn Heights, who called on Arnn later to apologize.

After the meeting, Rep. Adam Zemke, D-Ann Arbor said the comment was offensive and derailed the meeting from the discussion it was intended for.

"The debate around Common Core in Lansing is hugely important," Zemke said. "It's probably the most important task I'll work on all summer."

Hillsdale officials released a statement later that day to apologize for the offense taken and to clarify what Arnn meant.

"No offense was intended by the use of that term except to the offending bureaucrats, and Dr. Arnn is sorry if such offense was honestly taken," the statement said. "But the greater concern, he believes, is the state-endorsed racism the story illustrates."

That state-endorsed racism, Hillsdale officials said, is an attempt by federal and state authorities to make Hillsdale count its students by race.

Arnn said the MDE investigation did just that in 2000, spending time on the campus counting students by their race. He said his school did not keep such a record.

Jan Ellis, an MDE spokeswoman present at the hearing, denied those claims. Last year, Hillsdale was categorized as "at-risk" by the MDE, largely due to the lack of diversity on campus.

Shaton Berry, who recently served as president of the Michigan Parent Teacher Association, said Arnn's comments left her "completely flabbergasted."

"I'm disappointed that in this day and age, we still have people using references like that," said Berry, who was at the meeting. "But I'm not shocked."