That didn’t take long at all.
Louisville has moved quickly to distance itself from the growing controversy surrounding racist remarks from (now-former) booster John Schnatter, who is better known for founding Papa John. At a press conference on Friday afternoon at the school, president Neeli Bendapudi confirmed what many in red were hoping: Papa John’s name was being taken off the team’s football stadium immediately and the venue would henceforth be known as Cardinal Stadium going forward.
UofL President Neeli Bendapudi announces she has renamed the football stadium simply “Cardinal Stadium”. States she also has the support of the board of trustees for the move. pic.twitter.com/zs9nDFo1wx
— Mark Ennis (@MarkEnnis) July 13, 2018
Bendapudi says she spoke with Schnatter. He apologized. He was contrite and supports the decision to remove the name so as to not be a distraction.
— Mark Ennis (@MarkEnnis) July 13, 2018
Schnatter had already resigned from both his company and as a board member at the school in recent days. Despite that, players had grown increasingly vocal in their hopes that the Papa John’s moniker would be removed from the most visible venue in the city -- which is complicated by the fact that Schnatter himself held the naming rights at Louisville. It seems that based on Bendapudi’s comments, the former pizza titan didn’t object to a renaming given how quickly things have moved over the past few days (the name was also taken off the business school).
No details yet as to what the financial ramifications are for the school going forward or if they will put the stadium naming rights up for the highest bidder anytime soon but kudos to the administration for not only doing the right thing, but acting fairly quickly to rectify the situation.
