U. of Louisville Will Change Stadium Name After Papa John’s Founder Used a Racial Slur

Updated (7/13/2018, 5:56 p.m.) with further developments at the University of Kentucky.

The University of Louisville will rename its Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium to formally cut ties with the pizza company’s founder, John H. Schnatter, after he used a racial slur on a business conference call.

“I have decided, with the support of our Board of Trustees, to rename our football stadium ‘Cardinal Stadium’ and to remove John Schnatter’s name from the Center for Free Enterprise at our College of Business, effective immediately,” said Neeli Bendapudi, the university’s president, in a written statement. “I have stated since my first day on this job that my commitment to the University of Louisville is to make it a great place to learn, a great place to work, and a great place in which to invest. We can only accomplish this if we truly celebrate diversity, foster equity, and aim to achieve inclusion.”

Schnatter also resigned from the Louisville board this week, effective immediately, according to a board statement.

Schnatter stepped down after Forbes reported that he had used a racial slur during a conference call in May. He was speaking with a marketing agency about bad press he received last November over his comments blaming lower pizza sales on NFL players’ national-anthem protests.

He was asked to role-play how he would distance himself from white supremacists in future altercations. Schnatter minimized his controversial statement and used a racial slur, Forbes reported.

Since the Forbes report, Schnatter has also resigned as chairman of the board of Papa John’s.

Schnatter became involved with the university in 1996, when his company helped pay for a 42,000-seat stadium. His term on the board began in January 2017 and was not set to expire until 2022.

“After speaking with John, I’m confident that his comments, while inappropriate, do not reflect his personal beliefs or values,” said J. David Grissom, chairman of the board, in a written statement on Wednesday. “No member of the Board of Trustees condones racism or insensitive language, regardless of the setting. The University of Louisville embraces and celebrates diversity and is a supporter of all its students and stakeholders, regardless to their identity.”

Schnatter has strong ties as well to the University of Kentucky, where in December 2015 he helped fund the John H. Schnatter Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise.

“Without question, the language reported in the conference call is unacceptable and has no place in our community,” said Jay Blanton, Kentucky’s spokesman, in an emailed statement. “We look forward to Mr. Schnatter further addressing this issue in response to the heavy criticism he is rightly receiving.”

Eli Capilouto, Kentucky’s president, announced in a statement on Friday that it would remove all references to Schnatter from the institute and the business school, following Louisville’s lead.

“We appreciate Mr. Schnatter’s understanding that his unacceptable language is contrary to the values of the University of Kentucky,” said Capilouto. “We believe in his sincerity to try to make amends. But attempting to continue any financial relationship with Mr. Schnatter would be a painful and unnecessary barrier to our efforts of building a community where everyone is welcome and belongs. Therefore, we will be continuing the important work of the Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise, but neither the Gatton College of Business and Economics nor the institute will recognize Mr. Schnatter in any way.”