MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) - The Latest on the fallout over Papa John’s pizza founder John Schnatter’s reported use of a racial slur (all times local):
12:45 p.m.
Purdue University is dropping the name of the Papa John’s founder from an economic research center amid controversy over his use of a racial slur.
Purdue officials said Friday that school is offering to return John Schnatter’s $8 million donation that was announced in April with the renaming of its Research Center in Economics.
Purdue says the action is needed to prevent what it calls “counterproductive division on the campus” and any appearance of deviating from the school’s stance on tolerance and racial relations.
Schnatter has been under fire since Forbes reported last month that he used the N-word during a media training conference call. He has apologized for using the word, but said it was taken out of context.
Ball State University announced earlier Friday that it was keeping Schnatter’s name on a school business program, while the University of Louisville last month removed his name from a similar center.
___
11:55 a.m.
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, while Purdue University officials have been considering what to do with an economic research center named for him.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.