Could the home of Florida State football udnergo a name change? The higher-ups at the university certainly aren’t dismissing the notion.
Doak Campbell Stadium was opened in 1950 and named in honor of Doak S. Campbell, the university’s president at the time. Campbell helped guide the university’s transition from the Florida College for Women to FSU in 1947. However, Campbell was also reportedly a pro-segregationist, going so far as to forbid the student newspaper from reporting on racial segregation.
Last week, a former Florida State football player, Kendrick Scott, started a petition on change.org calling for Campbell’s name to be removed from the stadium. At the moment, the stadium is officially called Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium. Scott’s petition wants the stadium to be renamed Charlie Ward Field at Bobby Bowden Stadium. Ward, of course, played quarterback at FSU and, in 1993, became the first Florida State football player to win the Heisman Trophy.
Monday, the president at FSU confirmed he has asked his athletic director to research the issue.
“I have been following with great interest the petitions circulating on social media asserting that Doak S. Campbell, FSU’s president in 1947 during its transition from Florida State College for Women, resisted integration and asking that the stadium no longer bear his name,” John Thrasher said Monday. “I have asked Athletics Director David Coburn to immediately review this issue and make recommendations to me. I look forward to receiving his report soon.”
Scott’s petition has been signed by more than 2,200 individuals as of this posting.
It should be noted that Campbell’s grandson vehemently denied that his grandfather was a segregationist.
“I’m extremely disappointed that somebody is trying to change the name,” Doak Campbell III told the Palm Beach Post. “It sounds like he was trying to keep the school from being embroiled in a hot political topic that might have adverse consequences. He was not promoting segregation. He was concerned about protecting the tranquility of the school and not let it be dragged into something whether he believed it or not. That was his primary concern.
“As long as I knew him, he never professed that segregationism was something that was good. He was always promoting the advancement of black education.”
