Louisville shows much-needed decisive leadership with stadium name change
Link
https://theathletic.com/431177/2018/07/1...schnatter/
His summer workout complete, his Friday the 13th halfway through, Louisville receiver Jaylen Smith stepped in front of reporters just before noon and addressed the latest controversy to hit his school.
Forbes had reported Wednesday that John Schnatter — also known as Papa John — had used the N-word during a media training session, and backlash came swiftly. By day’s end, Schnatter had resigned from Louisville’s board of trustees and as chairman of the board of Papa John’s. Moreover, the mayor of Schnatter’s hometown, Jeffersonville, Ind., removed Schnatter’s name from the city’s basketball gymnasium. By Thursday, the mayor had said he had given back $400,000 that Schnatter donated for the gym’s renovation.
All that was left, it seemed, was addressing the elephant at 2800 S. Floyd St., where Schnatter’s old company graced the name of Louisville’s renovated football stadium.
Smith, who was among the contingent of Cardinals players to tweet opposition to the stadium’s name this week, had a decidedly more reserved tone when asked about the matter Friday.
“It’s a sad situation,” Smith told reporters. “It’s something that could easily have been avoided, but I’ve talked to Coach (Bobby Petrino), I’ve talked to other people and I know that the administrative office and the guys upstairs are doing everything they can to get it fixed.”
Not even two hours later, school president Neeli Bendapudi held a news conference announcing the renaming of the stadium to Cardinal Stadium. The move was quick and decisive, showcasing the kind of firm leadership that a university plagued by scandal after scandal has not seen in recent memory.
Consider this reaction, via text, from longtime Louisville radio personality Mark Ennis, in response to the move: “This is the first time in years around here that someone did the whole right thing instead of the least-expensive bare minimum to avoid scrutiny.”
Is it the dawn of a new day? Considering the decision — and the fact that the president who made the decision is in her third month on the job — it certainly feels that way. Players told reporters that Bendapudi addressed them afterward, and they credited her decision for boosting team morale.
It is also worth revisiting the calm approaches that Smith and linebacker Jonathan Greenard took earlier in the day when they were repeatedly asked about the matter. Both players said that they were among those whom Petrino had called this week to assure them that the matter was being appropriately addressed by the school’s decision-makers, helping to cool heads and offer a little faith to student-athletes at a place that, at least lately, has often left the student-athletes to answer in the wake of their superiors’ shortcomings.
Said Smith: “(Petrino’s) basically saying he’s talked to the guys in charge. They know our frustration. We know what they’re going through. So it’s just all mutually beneficial for us to just let it happen how it happens.”
Echoed Greenard: “We have a great community, great university, so their reputation is on the line just like how our reputation is on the line. So we’re definitely gonna continue to show ourselves on the field and let them handle stuff behind the scenes.”
Petrino released a statement later in the afternoon applauding the name change, saying, “In light of recent events, I am pleased that our university has made the correct decision to remove ‘Papa John’s’ from the name of our stadium. Our football team and our city all promote environments of inclusiveness. The university’s quick action to rename our stadium has only reaffirmed its commitment to such inclusiveness. I applaud their decision.”
Smith said he accepted Schnatter’s apology, because everyone makes mistakes. Asked what he would say to the man if he could talk to him, Smith replied, “I’d pray for him.”
Good on Smith. Good on Greenard. Good on Bendapudi, of course, and good on Seth Dawkins, the receiver who first spoke out publicly on the stadium issue, and whose teammates began tweeting #ThankYouSeth as the news broke Friday.
Heck, good on Petrino, for working behind the scenes to calm understandably hot nerves within his locker room; for convincing his players that, unlike so many other times, the adults in the room would properly handle a hot-button issue; and for allowing them the freedom to speak publicly on the controversy.
Good, for once, on Louisville.