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EVMS hires law firm to investigate Virginia Gov. Northam's 1984 racist yearbook photo

The law firm will conduct an independent investigation to find out how that picture wound up in a public medical school yearbook in 1984.

As Virginia Governor Northam resists calls to resign, he's been focused on clearing his name over a racist picture on his medical school yearbook page that he says is not him. But how did it get there? 

The president of Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk announced he has hired an outside law-firm. It will conduct an independent investigation to find out how that picture wound up in a public medical school yearbook in 1984.

RELATED: 'Shockingly abhorrent' | EVMS officials on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's racist yearbook photo

Who's to blame for the picture of a man in blackface next to a person dressed in KKK robe and hood on Governor Ralph Northam's medical school yearbook page? The president of Eastern Virginia Medical School, Richard Homan said not the students.

"The institution takes responsibility," then and now, said Homan. 

EVMS is a different place than it was in 1984. The number of minority students in the medical doctor program has doubled over recent years and is now 20 percent.   

"I'm concerned about our minority students...Our African American community is outraged, as they should be," said Homan.  

He said he stopped the publication of yearbooks in 2013 after seeing a picture of a group of students dressed in Confederate uniforms in front of a Confederate battle flag. And the Virginia Pilot reported on another EVMS yearbook picture of a student in blackface. 

Homan doesn't know how many similar pictures exist in past yearbooks.

RELATED: Virginia Democrats want Gov. Ralph Northam out by Monday after racist photos surface

"All I know is one is enough for me to be alarmed...There's a pattern...some are repugnant, some are unprofessional. Some are shockingly abhorrent," said Homan.

To get answers, he has put together an advisory board and hired former Viginia Attorney general Richard Cullen, and his McGuire Woods Law firm to conduct an outside investigation.  

"We want this to be more than just a review of what happened 30 years ago...we want to know what's happening today and what we can do to make things better. Through that process we'll understand why, what and where. And how this could've happened in terms of oversight and lack there of," said Homan. 

Meanwhile, Governor Northam remains in office, and sent out his first notice since the scandal broke, issuing condolences to the family of a Virginia State trooper who was shot and killed in the line of duty. 

Some new African American voices are coming forward saying the Governor should stay put.

RELATED: Gov. Ralph Northam retracts apology, denies being in racist yearbook photo, then admits to being in blackface

"If we continue to throw people away because of one blemish, than that's going to set a precedent for our younger generation, that, we're gonna hold this stuff against you. And nobody gets a second chance," said David Britt in Richmond. 

President Homan was asked if he had found the racist picture on Northam's page back in 2013 when he saw the students dressed in confederate uniforms, would he have put the picture "out there" for the public to see. He said, no. 

"We're not political and because of the political nature of that photograph, they would not have put it out there," he said. 

He said he wants to focus on an environment of inclusion and diversity.

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