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The University of Kentucky has cut ties with “Papa John” John Schnatter following his admission that he made racist remarks during a conference call approximately two months ago.
Schnatter’s name was involved with the university’s Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise, part of the Gatton College of Business.
This comes hours after the University of Louisville announced that they would remove the “Papa John’s” reference from the name of their football stadium.
University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto issued the following statement:
“We appreciate Mr. Schnatter’s understanding that his unacceptable language is contrary to the values of the University of Kentucky. We believe in his sincerity to try to make amends. But attempting to continue any financial relationship with Mr. Schnatter would be a painful and unnecessary barrier to our efforts of building a community where everyone is welcome and belongs. Therefore, we will be continuing the important work of the Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise, but neither the Gatton College of Business and Economics nor the Institute will recognize Mr. Schnatter in any way.”
The John H. Schnatter Foundation issued a statement at the same time. It reads:
“When we started working with the University of Kentucky to create the John H. Schnatter Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise in 2015, our focus was, and remains to this day, the students, who benefit from understanding the role free markets play in the economy and society. Based on recent events, the University feels that Mr. Schnatter’s involvement with this program could be a distraction to students and scholars. With that in mind, we have mutually agreed to end our partnership with the University.”
Schnatter donated $12 million to the Gatton College of Business at UK, according to a report from WKYT.
The move really comes as no surprise, as nearly every connection to Schnatter is being severed in the wake of the Forbes report that he used the N-Word on a conference call.