A new task force appointed by Wallace Loh, president of the University of Maryland, is considering the renaming of Byrd Stadium on the College Park campus. The stadium is named after Dr. H.C. Byrd who was head football coach and later president of the university from 1935 to 1954.
The effort to rename the stadium was prompted by a student petition submitted earlier this year. The petition said that the “University of Maryland prides itself on diversity and acceptance. The school should not have a major campus landmark named after a president that did not believe in that diversity.” The students pleaded with administrators to “not alienate minority students by glorifying a president that would not want them to attend.”
The student government passed a resolution supporting the petition saying that “during Byrd’s tenure he barred Blacks from participating in sports and enrolling into the University until 1951.”
The final decision on whether or not to rename the stadium would be made by the Maryland Board of Regents.
