LOS ANGELES — A last-minute decision to serve fried chicken and waffles in a campus dining hall in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. was a regrettable choice and lacked sensitivity, officials at the University of California, Irvine, acknowledged Wednesday.

The meal was served at Pippin Commons on the first night of UCI’s 28th annual Martin Luther King Jr. symposium, a three-day campus event themed “Uniting our Voice for Change.” Past speakers have included Dick Gregory, Julian Bond and the late Yolanda King, the civil rights leader’s eldest child.

The Jan. 17 menu _ and a sign in the dining hall reading “MLK Holiday Special: Chicken and Waffles _ were pulled together at the last minute by a chef and other staff members at the cafeteria, a culinary choice that was made without any oversight from the university, said UCI spokeswoman Cathy Lawhon.

UCI student Ricardo Sparks, the 20-year-old co-chair of the university’s Black Student Union, lodged a formal complaint with the administration after seeing the sign and the entree.

Sparks said the insensitivity of the decision has sparked outrage within the student union and other ethnic student organizations on campus.

“It’s just another in a long line of small events on our campus that aren’t meant to be taken in a certain way, but are at least questionable in their cultural legitimacy,” said John Murillo III, 21, director of communications for the Black Student Union.

The fact that the incident occurred during the symposium was especially disappointing, Murillo said.

“It takes all the radicalism and activism that we tried to do with the symposium and then (the cafeteria) serves chicken and waffles and takes away from all the stuff that we did,” Murillo said.

Officials at the university agreed Wednesday that serving chicken and waffles at a campus cafeteria on Martin Luther King Jr. Day was not in “good taste.”

Lawhon said the intention behind the menu was to offer comforting food for students in conjunction with the MLK Day holiday.

“But it probably wasn’t the most sensitive thing,” Lawhon said.

Thomas Parham, vice chancellor of student affairs, tried without success to schedule a meeting with Sparks and another student who had filed a complaint, Lawhon said. Sparks said he had waited to respond until he rallied other students to attend to meeting.

University officials said they are now trying to set up a meeting with Sparks and others next week.

No disciplinary action has been taken against the chef, and it was unclear if any action would be taken in the future, Lawhon said.

Officials with Aramark Corp., which provides dining services for student housing, said they will conduct cultural sensitivity training for all managers and chefs.

Sparks and other students on campus said that racially inappropriate incidents have been dealt with lightly in the past.

“I understand people have prejudice and ignorance,” Sparks said. “But this is out in the community and nobody is saying anything about it.”

Last week, the Thalia Surf Shop in nearby Laguna Beach was criticized for offering 20 percent off black-colored items for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The shop’s owner later apologized.

• Nate Jackson