University Of Maryland President Urges Stadium Name Change

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (WJZ) -- The University of Maryland football stadium may be getting a new name. A push is underway to remove former president Curley Byrd's name because he was a known supporter of segregation.

Now the university president is weighing in.

Meghan McCorkell has more on what he's saying.

Maryland President Wallace Loh now says he wants the name changed, calling it a difficult and emotion laden issue.

The next time the Terps take the home field, their stadium may have a new name.

"I'm just glad we've come to a point where we're going to say 'bye, bye' to Curley," said Colin Byrd, black student union.

Former UMD President Curley Byrd is credited with expanding the school, but he was also a proponent of racial segregation.

Now current president Wallace Loh is asking the Board of Regents to remove his name, saying, for African Americans students: "The name stands as a vivid and painful reminder that a generation ago they were unwelcome on this campus."

Colin Byrd fought the name change.

"This is something I think the entire campus community can take pride in," he said.

Just last week, the university renamed a building after Parren Mitchell--the first black graduate student at College Park.

Former state senator Clarence Mitchell, IV, is Parren Mitchell's nephew.

"It means a lot to have that building named after him, but it would also mean more to him were he still alive that Curley Byrd's name were off that," Mitchell said.

Mitchell says tensions over Byrd's name have been brewing.

"What you have now is this man's name on the stadium at a time when the students are saying we don't want that legacy anymore, we don't want that legacy of segregation," he said.

Still, some say it's a difficult choice.

"He also did so much for the university at the time, and I think it's important to acknowledge both aspects of it," one student said.

The Board of Regents will consider the proposal Friday.

Loh is recommending the facility be called Maryland Stadium.

If Byrd's name is removed, the president has recommended a memorial of his full legacy in one of the main campus libraries.