University of Louisville to remove Papa John’s from stadium name

The Associated Press

6 years ago

Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium at the University of Lousiville in Louisville, Ky. (Screenshot/Google Maps)

Signs, including one featuring Papa John’s founder John Schnatter, at a Papa John’s pizza store in Quincy, Mass. on Dec. 21, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

The logo of Papa John’s is displayed at a pizza store in Quincy, Mass. on Dec. 21, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Pizza boxes stacked at a Papa John’s pizza store in Quincy, Mass. on Dec. 21, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

A slice of cheese pizza at the Papa John’s pizza shop in Quincy, Mass. on Dec. 21, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Papa John’s founder and CEO John Schnatter attends a meeting in Louisville, Ky. on Oct. 18, 2017. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The University of Louisville is removing Papa John’s from its football stadium’s name after a report the pizza chain’s founder used a racial slur.

The company’s logo has been on Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium since it was built 20 years ago.

John Schnatter, who also resigned from the university’s board of trustees, apologized this week for using a racial slur during a company conference call in May.

University of Louisville President Neeli Bendapudi says the “community has been fractured” by Schnatter’s comments. She says the school will also remove his name from its Center for Free Enterprise at the business school.

Bendapui says “there’s too much hurt around” the name right now.

She spoke with Schnatter and says he supported the removal of the names.