CINCINNATI, Ohio— Many Americans are asking for change across the country following George Floyd’s death. In the Queen City, former University of Cincinnati baseball players are trying to change the name of their stadium.
What You Need To Know
- UC's baseball stadium was named after Marge Schott in 2005
- Schott made several racial slurs in her lifetime
- A former UC baseball player made a petition to remove Schott's name from the stadium
- The petition now has several thousand signatures
Former players have made it known that they want the name of Marge Schott stadium to change. And now over seven thousand people have signed the petition to say they want it too.
Jordan Ramey was an outfielder for the University of Cincinnati’s baseball team. He graduated in December and says it was always a dream to play collegiate baseball.
“It was the life," Ramey said. "I loved it because it taught me a lot. It taught me about different cultures, about different types of people, how to interact with different people, how to work hard.”
But he says he always struggled with the fact that the facility he spent so much time in and played the game he loved was named after Marge Schott— a former owner of the Reds who made several racial slurs in her lifetime.
“You want to love everything you’re putting into your craft and art, but you got to remember who you’re doing it for," Ramey said. "Then you say okay if this is how they feel about me, they put her name on the stadium and this is where I’m playing every day, this is where I’m practicing every day, this is where I workout. So if this is how they feel about me, it’s definitely conflicting.”
Schott passed away in 2004 and left $2 million to go towards upgrading UC’s athletic facilities. The new baseball stadium was named after her in 2005. But for players like Ramey, they believe it shouldn’t have taken this long to change the stadium’s namesake.
“This should have been done," he said. "If this has gone this viral in a week and a lot of people feel very strongly about this, and this should not have gone this long until change was required.”
Ramey started a petition online that has thousands of signatures. Even past well-known UC players have said they support the cause.
“It’s definitely cool to know your voice, an individual voice can make change," Ramey said. "And that’s the story for everybody. Like whatever you see, if you see something wrong say something, be that change. Because a lot of other people feel the same way.”
The University of Cincinnati says they are aware of the petition and released a statement saying in part:
“We appreciate the willingness of our current and former student-athletes to have tough conversations and express their feelings about the name of our baseball stadium. The Department of Athletics is providing the university administration any information or context they may need to better understand this issue from the perspectives of our student-athletes.”
There are several other buildings in the Cincinnati area named after Marge Schott, including a new academic building and stadium at St. Ursula Academy. A petition has also been created to change the name of the school buildings.
For Ramey, while he looks back fondly on his time as a baseball player at UC, he says things have to change there in order to allow change around the entire city.
“I’m done playing there, but my kids won’t play there," Ramey said. "Like my kids will definitely not play under that name. So it’s definitely a community thing. It’s the type of energy we’re going to allow in our city.”
Ramey says he’s very hopeful that they name will change. He’s willing to work with the university to make it happen.