Jack Trice: Art on Campus
Almost every student here at Iowa State has attended at least one of the home football games. People go to the Jack Trice Stadium to tailgate, to go to the games, to cheer on our Cyclones, to eat all of the delicious concession stand foods, and then they leave. They leave not knowing what that stadium stands for. Do those students, those fans, know why our stadium is named Jack Trice; or even know who Jack tice is? Those same students who attend the football games also pass the statue of Jack Trice every time they go to a game. However, a lot of people don’t know who the statue is of, or why its there. To them, it is just another piece of artwork on campus.
The statue of Jack Trice is an important piece of art on the Iowa State campus due to the history and legend of Jack Trice himself. A photograph of the Jack Trice Statue is shown on the left, the photo was found in an article titled A Common Man in Search of His Destiny (see Fig. 1). This piece of artwork was made to honor one of the most important athletes and students of Iowa State University. Throughout this essay we will explore the history behind this statue and also try to find some meaning behind it.
The Jack Trice Statue was built in 1987 as a memorial to former Iowa Sate football player, Jack Trice. Trice came to Iowa State in 1922 to play football and study animal husbandry. He made history at Iowa State by becoming the first African-American to play football for the school. Unfortunately, on October 6th 1923 Jack Trice was injured during a game against the University of Minnesota. During the game Trice attempted to make a tackle, which resulted in him dying from severe injuries. He immediately became a legend among the Iowa State community.
It was decided in 1984 to name the football field after Jack trice. It wasn’t until 1997 that the stadium was officially named after him. In 1987 the student government body raised money to build a statue to honor Jack...