On Saturday, Aug. 30 at 4 p.m., history was made once again at Iowa State.

After 23-years of rallying, debating and compromising, the perseverance of students, alumni and other supporters of renaming Cyclone Stadium/ Jack Trice Field to Jack Trice Stadium was recognized.

More than 300 students, faculty, staff and other supporters showed for the pre-game dedication Aug. 30.

Among some of the special events during the dedication was the revealing of the changed name in the entry way of the stadium.

Geni Greiner, ISU Foundation’s special events coordinator of external affairs, said having the dedication ceremony Aug. 30, before the first football game of the season, felt appropriate.

Greiner said the ISU Foundation, Minority Student Affairs, Government of the Student Body, the Athletic Department and Internal Affairs worked on the dedication ceremony since May.

Among the speakers were Athletic Director Gene Smith, President Martin Jischke and Government of the Student Body President Rob Wiese.

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and Jill Wagner, president of the Jack Trice Committee in 1974 also were present for the dedication.

People who attended school with Jack Trice attended the ceremony as well.

“The Jack Trice statue here is not to scale, it’s bigger than Jack, and it’s appropriate for those who know the Jack Trice Story. His spirit is truly larger than life,” Wiese said in his dedication speech.

The barbecue planned by GSB and MSA also was a highlight.

The Beginning

Trice died Oct. 8, 1923 from injuries he received in his second varsity football game at Iowa State. Trice was ISU’s first black student-athlete.

He is the only ISU athlete to die as a result of injuries sustained during competition.

The movement to rename Cyclone Stadium after Trice began before the stadium was completely erected in 1974.

According to records in 1974, the first committee to rename the stadium after Trice was organized. After a petition was made, the stadium was named Cyclone stadium by then-President Robert Parks.

The effort continued until 1984, when a compromise was reached between the students and then-ISU President Robert Parks.

In 1984, the stadium became Cyclone Stadium/Jack Trice Field.

The Government of the Student Body showed its support by funding a statue of Trice in 1987.

The statue was placed next to Beardshear Hall, but was moved this summer to its new home, in front of the stadium.

The drive to change the name started again late last January when Iowa State’s Advisory Committee on the Naming of Buildings and Streets recommended to President Jischke that Cyclone Stadium/ Jack Trice Field be changed to Jack Trice Stadium.

President Jischke accepted the advisory committee’s recommendation, and announced his support for renaming the stadium.

On Feb. 19, 1997 when President Jischke recommended to the state Board of Regents that Cyclone Stadium be changed to Jack Trice Stadium, the regents passed the recommendation with a 7 to 2 vote.

“This is the right thing for Iowa State to do,” Jischke said in February about the proposal.