A petition started by a University of Florida graduate student to change the name of the Stephen C. O’Connell Center has picked up steam this week. As of Thursday, the petition has more than 6,100 signatures.
Florida’s basketball arena recently received a corporate sponsor name after a $64.5 million dollar renovation that was completed in 2016. However, the official name is in honor of former UF President (1967-73), Stephen C. O’Connell.
“Stephen C. O’Connell was a well-known segregationist,” starter of the petition, Anthony Rojas wrote. “In 1959, he was a member of the majority on the Florida Supreme Court when it denied entrance to a Black man seeking admission to UF on the grounds that the applicant was “a potential disruptive influence.