UMD Changes Name Of Byrd Stadium To Maryland Stadium
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (WJZ) -- An outstanding university president and a strict segregationist.
Both legacies were weighed by University of Maryland's Board of Regents, but as Alex DeMetrick reports in the end, it was the end of Byrd Stadium.
Byrd Stadium sits at the center of The University of Maryland's College Park campus.
Named after Harry Curly Byrd, the president who grew the University of Maryland from the 1930's through the fifties and kept it segregated.
A court order forces him to allow African American students in.
Current President Wallace Loh agreed with students and faculty, Byrd's name is synonymous with segregation and should be removed.
"Make sure everyone has a chance to speak their mind," the president of the Board of Regents said.
Which the Board of Regents did before voting on the proposal.
"Curly Byrd was a to me a racist," said one professor.
"Will his name being removed from that stadium make you feel better? I bet not," said Kim Lawson, who was against the name change.
"You can embrace the new found diversity of out university by deciding to remove the most prominent symbol of school segregation in the history of the United States of America," said Colin Byrd, not in relation to the original Byrd.
Barry Des Rouches said, "the action you are considering could reduce one of out greatest leaders to being seen as a pariah."
After a lengthy debate among themselves, the regents voted, 12 to 5 in favor of the name change.
The stadium's new name, at least temporarily, is Maryland Stadium. That could change with input from students and alumni, but it will never again by Byrd.
"A watershed moment in the history of the university," Colin said. "Lot of people didn't think it could be done."
Byrd's name won't totally disappear.
A small tribute to his accomplishments for the university will be placed in the library.
