Jack Trice is creeping up on Cyclone Stadium.

Patricia Swan, dean of the graduate college and chairwoman of the Iowa State committee that evaluates the names of buildings and streets, said Tuesday that the committee will recommend to President Martin Jischke this week whether the stadium should be renamed in honor of Trice.

Also on Tuesday, a bronze statue of Trice was plucked from the ground in front of Carver Hall and hauled off to Connecticut, where it will be refurbished. The statue will return to campus this summer or early next fall, when it will be rededicated in front of the stadium.

University officials agreed to move the statue of ISU’s first black athlete and pick up a majority of the tab after the Government of the Student Body Senate voted to make the request early last semester.

Jischke has been waiting for the committee’s input before coming to his own decision about the stadium name. If Jischke approves a recommendation to change the name, he will then pass his own recommendation along to the state Board of Regents.

The regents will ultimately decide if Cyclone Stadium will be renamed Jack Trice Stadium, but it is unlikely that they would act contrary to Jischke’s recommendation.

None of the nine regents has spoken out against renaming the stadium. Several have indicated they would support a new name.

The president has been silent thus far about his position. In an interview with the Daily’s editorial board last semester, Jischke did praise Trice’s accomplishments as a black athlete and the only Cyclone to die from injuries sustained during competition.

“Trice is an important person by the sort of individual he was. As an individual, he’s heroic. He is a symbol of a moment of change,” Jischke said. “He was a very impressive individual.”

There is apparently overwhelming student support to rename the stadium. In a comprehensive telephone survey released in December, 68 percent of 496 students surveyed said they support changing the name.

The Trice controversy has been around for more than a decade. The original push to get the stadium named after Trice came in the early 1980s.

At that time, university officials agreed to name just the field after Trice. The stadium’s official name is Cyclone Stadium/Jack Trice Field.