---

8-27-97

Contacts:
Gene Smith, Athletics, (515) 294-0123
Steve Jones, News Service, (515) 294-4778

JACK TRICE STADIUM DEDICATION CEREMONY SATURDAY, 4 P.M.

AMES, Iowa -- The first African American student-athlete at Iowa State University and the only Cyclone to die from injuries received in an intercollegiate athletic contest will be honored Saturday, Aug. 30, prior to ISU's 1997 opening football game.

A ceremony recognizing Jack Trice, the man whose name is now on ISU's stadium, will be at 4 p.m. at the Trice statue east of the Olsen Building.

ISU President Martin Jischke, Athletic Director Gene Smith and Government of the Student Body (GSB) President Rob Wiese will speak at the ceremony. Among the guests in attendance will be Robert Fisher, West Des Moines, a former Cyclone athlete and teammate of Trice. The ceremony precedes the Cyclones' 5:30 p.m. Big 12 Conference football game against Oklahoma State University.

A lineman on the football team, Trice died Oct. 8, 1923, from internal injuries sustained in only his second collegiate game played two days earlier. A note Trice had written to himself on the eve of the game was found in his jacket pocket following his death. It was read at a campus memorial service the following day:

"My thoughts just before the first real college game of my life: The honor of my race, family and self is at stake. Everyone is expecting me to do big things. I will. My whole body and soul are to be thrown recklessly about the field. Every time the ball is snapped, I will be trying to do more than my part. Fight low, with your eyes open and toward the play. Watch out for crossbucks and reverse end runs. Be on your toes every minute if you expect to make good. Jack"

The GSB approved a resolution last spring to name the stadium for Trice. The resolution was endorsed by the ISU Advisory Committee for the Naming of Buildings and Streets, and the State Board of Regents approved the change in February.

A bronze statue of Trice, which had been located on central campus, was recently relocated to a new site east of the Olsen Building, near the northeast entrance to the stadium.

Since 1984, the stadium was named Cyclone Stadium-Jack Trice Field. The 43,000-seat stadium opened in 1975.

-30-

Iowa State homepage

University Relations, online@iastate.edu
Copyright © 1997, Iowa State University, all rights reserved
URL: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~nscentral/releases/trice8.html
Revised 8/27/97