Iowa State University


Inside Iowa State
Feb. 7, 1997

Jack Trice Stadium proposal rests with regents

by Anne Dolan
President Martin Jischke has accepted the recommendation of the Government of the Student Body (GSB) and a university committee to rename Cyclone Stadium for Jack Trice, the Iowa State football player who died in 1923 from injuries received during a game. Jischke announced Feb. 3 that the recommendation will be forwarded to the State Board of Regents, which must approve facility names at state universities.

The board next meets Feb. 19-20 in Iowa City.

Jischke noted that the support for renaming the stadium for Trice is strong, though not unanimous. But he said the advisory committee's recommendation and his own reading on Trice convinced him the recognition is appropriate.

"It is clear that Jack Trice, for a large majority of students and others associated with Iowa State, exemplifies a number of heroic qualities, including dedication, commitment, enthusiasm and giving one's all to an important cause," Jischke said. "Universities have precious few opportunities to recognize heroic qualities. This is one of those opportunities."

Jischke's recommendation came a week after the Advisory Committee on the Naming of Buildings and Streets also recommended the name change for the stadium, following several months of discussion and opinion-gathering that included a public forum Nov. 15.

The football facility was completed in 1976 and has been named Cyclone Stadium/Jack Trice Field since 1983.

GSB unanimously approved a resolution last spring urging the administration to name the stadium for Trice, Iowa State's first African American student athlete, who died following a game against the University of Minnesota in October 1923. The GSB proposal was referred to the advisory committee.

The committee's recommendation to Jischke stated, "We make this recommendation because we have been persuaded that the story of this young man, who set high ideals for himself and did his best to live up to those ideals, has been and continues to be an inspiration to our students, the university community in general, and to people across the country who learn of it. We believe that naming the stadium for him . . . will afford more opportunities to tell his story and for others to be inspired by it."

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