COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — A Maryland university system board has voted to rename the stadium at the system’s flagship campus after a campaign focused on its namesake’s work to maintain racial segregation.
The University System of Maryland’s Board of Regents voted 12-5 Friday to change the name of the stadium honoring Harry C. “Curley” Byrd to Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium.
The stadium, where the University of Maryland College Park’s football and lacrosse teams play, was named for Byrd, who was president from 1936 to 1954.
In the spring, a coalition of students began a campaign for the change and President Wallace D. Loh created a group of faculty, staff, students and alumni to consider it. Loh recommended the change this week, saying Byrd was an ardent proponent of “separate but equal” education.
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