Wallace Loh forms group to rename Byrd Stadium

Byrd Stadium may be in for a facelift.

On Thursday, it was announced that president Wallace Loh formed a group to consider renaming Byrd Stadium. The group will be called “The Byrd Stadium Naming Work Group,” and will be saddled with going over several renaming options for Maryland’s football stadium.

The reason for the move was concerns being raised by several student groups to Loh about Harry “Curley” Byrd being a racist and segregationist, so Maryland’s university president decided to establish this committee. The verdict is expected to be reached by Dec. 11.

Maryland has a long history with Byrd Stadium as it broke ground on January 1949, and opened its doors on Sept. 30, 1950. After 65 years, the Terrapins may not be calling their home Byrd Stadium anymore.

Byrd was an administrator, athlete, and politician during his life. He participated in varsity baseball, football, and track during his collegiate career.

Following his graduation, Byrd served as a coach and athletic director at Maryland before eventually moving on to be the university president.

Byrd also brought coaches Paul “Bear” Bryant and Jim Tatum to Maryland. Bryant only coached one season at Maryland in which he led the Terps to a 6-2-1 record after clashing with Byrd. Bryant had suspended a player, and that player was reinstated by Byrd, which caused Bryant to resign just an hour after the move was made.

Byrd has a long and troubled history with Maryland, so it’s not surprising that many that are affiliated with the school are opposed to the name Byrd Stadium. It’ll be interesting to see what suggestions this group comes up with, and it would also take a little while to get used to the football team having a new name for the home that they’ve had since 1950.

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