MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) — The Indiana alma mater of the founder of Papa John’s says it will keep his name on a school business program despite controversy over his use of a racial slur last month.
Ball State University’s trustees chairman said Friday it accepted John Schnatter’s apology and will continue its support of the John H. Schnatter Institute for Entrepreneurship and Free Enterprise.
Schnatter is a 1983 Ball State graduate. The center was created in 2016 after he and the Charles Koch Foundation gave Ball State $3.25 million.
Ball State trustees chairman Rick Hall says Schnatter’s actions wasn’t derogatory, but was improper.
The University of Louisville is removing Schnatter’s name from a similar program.
However, Purdue University officials have cut him off from being involved in an economic research center named for him.
The Journal & Courier reports trustees will give Schnatter back $8 million he donated to the school to go towards an economic research center that bears his name. Trustees said having his name attacked to the building would be too much of a distraction.
