Wallace Loh Forms A Work Group To Help Consider Renaming Byrd Stadium

Dean Bonnie Thornton Dill chairs a work group to assess renaming the stadium.

By Ellie Silverman, The Diamondback

Photo by Tom Hausman

Although football game days include 24-ounce “Chessie” pretzels, beer and some school pride, senior Colin Byrd said the sport is overshadowed by the stadium’s namesake: Harry Clifton "Curley" Byrd, a former university president.

The sociology major, along with other student groups, believe the former president was a racist and segregationist and for those reasons, the stadium’s name should be changed.

After hearing these student concerns, university President Wallace Loh will announce today the Byrd Stadium Naming Work Group, which will be tasked with providing Loh with “a thoughtful and balanced assessment of possible options” by Dec. 11, according to the announcement.

“Like on any other issue, before I make a decision I ask for input from a very diverse set of constituencies, so when the decision is made, no decision is going to please everybody, but at least they have a right and opportunity to be heard and speak up,” Loh said. “If they don’t like the decision at least they will feel they were heard. That's what democracy is about.”

Bonnie Thornton Dill, the arts and humanities college dean, will chair the work group, which comprises 19 faculty, staff, students and alumni, according to the announcement. Some notable members of the group are Kumea Shorter-Gooden, the university’s chief diversity officer; Damon Evans, the senior associate athletic director; and Warren Kelley, the student affairs assistant vice president.

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