Florida State University president John Thrasher will take a look at potentially changing the name of Doak Campbell Stadium.
Former FSU linebacker Kendrick Scott started a petition to get the name changed on the iconic stadium because he views the former FSU president as a segregationist. The claim has been disputed by Campbell’s family. Campbell served as the president of the school from 1941 to 1957. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
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Thrasher tweeted a statement late Monday afternoon that he was following the situation with “great interest,” and that he’d ordered athletic director David Coburn “to immediately review this issue and make recommendations to me.”
You can read his full statement below.
— President John Thrasher (@FSUPresThrasher) June 22, 2020
Honestly, this statement reads like Thrasher couldn’t care less about this petition. When university officials want to throw their support behind something, they make it pretty clear.
They don’t talk about recommendations and “great interest.”
I couldn’t care less about the name of FSU’s stadium, but I know judging historical figures by the standards of today is a very dangerous game to play.
Should FSU change the name of Doak Campbell Stadium? That’s something only the good people at FSU can decide, but it really doesn’t sound like Thrasher is too motivated.
That’s the most vanilla statement I’ve read when it comes to an issue like this.
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We’ll see what happens, but it really doesn’t seem like Thrasher is taking this situation too seriously. Believe it or not, we don’t need to tear down every statue and change the name of every building named after a historical figure.
Again, I don’t care what FSU does, but we should certainly think about whether or judging historical figures based on the standards of today is a good idea.