The Government of the Student Body has once again voted to urge the renaming of an Iowa State building.

The resolution, which passed 31-0 in the Senate at last Wednesday’s GSB meeting, requests that the ISU administration and athletic department change the name of the newly remodeled Cyclone Stadium and Jack Trice Field to Jack Trice Stadium.

Peter Van Alstyne, College of Family and Consumer Sciences senator and the proposer of the resolution, said ever since he came to the university four years ago and read about Jack Trice, he has been an advocate of renaming the stadium. “I just want to make sure it does not get forgotten again. People did forget it for about 50 years and I want to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Van Alstyne said.

He hopes the resolution brings the issue out into the open and makes people start thinking about it, even if the name does not get changed.

Doug Houghton, GSB adviser, said this is not the first time the GSB has passed a resolution like this.

“This issue comes up a lot in the GSB. Last time it was passed, the Board of Regents were resistant to renaming it. The compromise was to name the field after him and not the stadium,” Houghton said.

Van Alstyne said even if the resolution is passed every year and the name does not get changed, at least people are remembering Jack Trice and not forgetting about what he did for the university.

Adam Gold, GSB president-elect, said, during his campaign, that he also wanted to rename the entire stadium after Trice. Gold said he will use the resolution as leverage to reach the student body and then go on to the alumni level to gain their support.

“Hopefully by the end of next football season we’ll have something done,” he said.

Gold said the biggest obstacle to renaming the stadium is the administration because they have already discussed the issue in the past and made a decision.

“The Regents have the final say when it comes down to it. To get them to really respect us we need the administration to support us and we need alumni support,” Gold said.

John Anderson, director of university relations, said the last time this issue surfaced at the university was in 1983 when a faculty member found a plaque that had the wording of a letter Trice wrote before his last football game. He said it generated a lot of support from students and staff at the time because the new stadium was being built and there was much interest to name it after Trice.

Anderson said the decision of the administration currently stands, but they are willing to listen to other suggestions. As of Monday morning, the GSB resolution had not been sent to the administration, so they could not really respond to it, he said.

“It’s not like there is no recognition of Jack Trice. There is, a significant amount, it’s just a matter of how much there should be,” Anderson said.

Anderson said the name Jack Trice Field and Cyclone Stadium was recommended by the ISU administration to the Board of Regents. The administration was given the recommendation of the name by a committee organized specifically to address the naming of the stadium.

Virgil Lagomarcino, chair of the stadium naming committee at the time, said when the issue was at hand, the president of the university appointed a 15-person committee to recommend the new stadium name.

After many lengthy discussions over a period of several weeks, Lagomarcino said a number of names were suggested, one of which was Cyclone Stadium. He said the final vote for the name was 11-3 in favor of the name Cyclone Stadium, and that was the name recommended to the president.

“It was also the recommendation of the committee that some recognition be given to Jack Trice for his extraordinary accomplishments,” Lagomarcino said. He said it was the administration that decided to add Jack Trice Field to the name.

Trice was not only the first African American to play football at ISU, but also the first athlete to die as a result of injuries inflicted during active competition for ISU.

Trice began his ISU football career in 1922 when he played on the freshman team as an interior lineman. His outstanding athletic ability promoted him to the varsity squad the following year. On Oct. 6, 1923 ISU played its second game of the season against Minnesota. It was Trice’s second varsity game.

The night before the competition, Trice wrote himself a note, recording his feelings and attitude about playing football. The note read:

“My thoughts just before the first real college game of my life: The honor of my race, family and self are at stake. Everyone is expecting me to do big things. I will. My whole body and soul are to be thrown recklessly about on the field tomorrow… —Jack”

During the first half of the game, Trice complained of a sore left shoulder, but returned to play in the second half. It was in the third quarter, when he was unable to reach the ball carrier that Trice threw himself in front of the opposing interference. He was knocked on his back and trampled over. Although he wanted to continue playing after the injury, Trice never ran another play on the football field.

Trice rode back to Ames with the team after Minnesota doctors said his condition was not too serious. Once at ISU, Ames doctors discovered a broken collarbone that Trice received during the first half of the game. He developed respiratory problems and his condition worsened. At 3 p.m. on Monday, October 8, 1923 Trice died of hemorrhaged lungs and internal bleeding throughout the abdomen.