Op-ed: Ball State makes wrong call in backing 'Papa John' The board can still choose to demonstrate our decency and values before we welcome returning students and new families to campus.

Chris Taylor | IndyStar

Chairman Rick Hall and the Ball State University Board of Trustees failed at an opportunity to choose moral leadership. The decision to continue supporting alumnus John “Papa John” Schnatter after his use of the N-word and his history of racially insensitive rhetoric demonstrates total disregard for decency.

The board of trustees is out of touch with the values held by our university community and is morally on an island of its own. Board leadership at universities across the country took this moment as an opportunity to demonstrate their values.

Purdue University removed Schnatter’s name from a building on their campus and offered to return an $8 million donation. The University of Louisville removed his name from their stadium. At the University of Utah, they decided to close a Papa John location at a campus food court. Each of these universities made an active choice to choose moral leadership. Ball State trustees did not.

In a letter sent to the Ball State community on Friday, Hall characterized Schnatter’s use of the N-word as imperfect. While recognizing the painfulness of the word, Hall suggested a review of context was appropriate. Be very clear, there will never be an appropriate context in which John Schnatter can use that word. It is not OK — especially when one has a history of racially insensitive rhetoric. His letter went on to announce the university would be leaving Schnatter’s name on the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Free Enterprise.

This response does not reflect the values of the Ball State University community. That’s why a growing number of alumni, students, and friends of the university are still urging the board of trustees to remove Schnatter’s name from the institute. It’s the right thing to do.

At Ball State, we have a Beneficence Pledge that calls on us to “value the intrinsic worth of every member of the community.” This moment is an opportunity to live up to that credo; the broader Ball State community is and the board of trustees should get in line.

The board should remove Schnatter’s name from the institute, offer to return his donation and truly begin engaging the broader Ball State community for guidance on issues of racial justice.

The start of classes is just a few weeks away at Ball State. The board can still choose to demonstrate our decency and values before we welcome returning students and new families to campus.

Chris Taylor is a 2015 graduate of the College of Communication Information and Media at Ball State University.