AMES – The legend of Jack Trice has been told time and time again around Iowa State University and Ames, Iowa. The late Hiram, Ohio, native played just two games at Iowa State, but is forever etched into the place that bears his name: Jack Trice Stadium.
However, it wasn’t always that way.
Trice was the first Black athlete at Iowa State and was ultimately killed after injuries sustained in a game on Oct. 6, 1923, against the University of Minnesota. The night before, he wrote a note about what he would do and what would happen to him in that game.
For three decades, the story and sacrifice Trice gave was nearly lost. The Jack Trice story resurfaced in 1957 when a plaque was discovered about him by students at State Gym. An article was subsequently written about Trice and his tragic tale.
The discussion of Trice’s story again came to prominence in the 1970s. At the same time, a new football stadium was in the works, which broke ground in 1973 and was completed in 1975.
However, it was missing one thing: a name.
Then, Jill Wagner, student body president at Iowa State from 1975-76, found the article from 1957 and thought it would be a fantastic idea to name the new stadium after Trice.
“It just sort of happened,” Wagner said. “We heard about Jack Trice, there’s a new stadium coming, this makes sense.”
Other organizations, including the Black Student Organization, played a pivotal role in the push to name the stadium after Trice.
“They were very helpful,” Wagner said. “But, we were also trying to make the point that this is not just a Black issue. This is a universal issue and is fairness of all.”
The stadium has gone through many changes during its 50-year history, however nothing is more notable than its title.
“There were students that had no clue who Jack Trice was,” Wagner said. “That’s also where the whole idea came about.”
At first, the stadium—which cost 7.5 million dollars to build—wasn’t owned by the university, but rather by the ISU Foundation. When the first game at the stadium happened, there was no name.
Around two months later, a vote was taken between faculty and students on what to name the stadium. There were two choices: Jack Trice Stadium and Cyclone Stadium.
“Lots of the dorms and the towers, they all signed referendums,” Wagner said. “We had referendums of pages of signatures saying ‘This is what the students want’ and some of the faculty too. I remember there were these three gals and they were dedicated to getting all of these signatures.”
Cyclone Stadium won 11-3. The three losing votes were the only students. The rest were staff.
Wagner’s fight did not stop there, however.
“Within an hour, there were eight of us in a station wagon headed down to the Board of Regents meeting, and it was in Council Bluffs,” Wagner said.
During that trip, Wagner showed them all of the signatures from all of the students who wanted the stadium name changed.
A compromise was reached in 1984, when Cyclone Stadium remained, but was joined by Jack Trice Field after more backlash and pressure to change the name. Eventually, Cyclone Stadium was renamed Jack Trice Stadium in 1997, 74 years after Trice’s death.
“I was there. There were tears,” Wagner said. “Where it says Jack Trice Stadium [on the side of the stadium], there was a blanket or curtain over the whole thing. Then they announced the name was changed and [the curtain] dropped. The student section just roared.”
In the 50 years the stadium has stood, 27 have been with Jack Trice’s name at the helm. His story has held true for over a century now, and will never be forgotten.
In recent years, Iowa State added the five-stripe logo as a patch to the football uniforms in 2020 and remembered the 100th anniversary of Trice’s death with the Jack Trice Legacy game in 2023 against TCU, which featured throwback uniforms similar to the ones Trice wore.
The final letter Trice wrote included the words ‘I will!’ which are featured on the back of the football helmets, the inside collar of the jerseys and the plaque that greets fans who enter the stadium on the East side.
“The honor of my race, family, and self are at stake,” Trice wrote. “Everyone is expecting me to do big things. I will!”
