BLOOMINGTON, Ind., Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Former Indiana University basketball star William Garrett's name adorns a college stadium in honor of his civil rights accomplishments, an official says.
University Vice President for Diversity Ed Marshall said Garrett, who was the first black basketball player in the Big 10 Conference, had been honored with the naming of the William L. Garrett-Ora L. Wildermuth Fieldhouse, the Chicago Tribune said Wednesday.
The decision was made to add Garrett's name to the university stadium in Burlington, Ind., after the college faced criticism regarding the presence of Wildermuth's name on the site.
Wildermuth was a former board chairman at the college but was also an outspoken opponent of integration.
Marshall said after fielding complaints about the honorary site for the anti-integration official, the college decided to also honor one of its famed alumni at the site.
"I think this creates an educational bridge to people to say, 'OK, we realize there were some negative moments in our history, we can't deny that, we can't make that go away,'" Marshall told the Tribune. "But we can use that point in time to educate current and future generations about the lack of validity of those views."
